Note: This document was prepared after BIP3 was passed by governance. BIP3 introduced a standard for the quality of presentation and contents of any proposal to whitelist future tokens in the protocol. Below, a hypothetical proposal is made to whitelist Chainlink (ticker: LINK). LINK is already whitelisted; therefore, this mock-BIP has no other purpose than to serve as a template for future whitelisting proposals.
BIP_X: Proposal to whitelist Chainlink
Contract address: 0x514910771af9ca656af840dff83e8264ecf986ca
Project Website: https://chain.link/
[ Discussion ]
An ‘oracle’ is a component of an abstract machine in complexity and computability theory, that assists in decision problems [1]. Oracles can be used to provide data to smart contracts that originates from outside the immutable ledger, of which the blockchain would otherwise have no knowledge. Oracle data feeds have a deterministic impact on smart contract outcomes. Therefore, there is an innate security risk that a contract could be compromised by inaccurate data. In this sense, the oracle assisting in the decision becomes a type of trusted custodian. If a corrupt entity was in control of the oracle, then they are also in control of the connected smart contract. This is an unacceptable concession for blockchain security.
The Chainlink project provides technology for trustless oracles. Chainlink is a distributed oracle network, rather than a single trusted entity. As with any distributed system, Chainlink is nearly impossible to compromise, as the adversary must control the majority of the network to influence its behavior. Therefore, Chainlink offers a compelling solution to trustless smart contract execution, where the contract is dependent on data from outside its own blockchain. Due to the general nature of oracles, and the already well-established and rapidly growing use of smart contracts, Chainlink serves a clear purpose now and in the future. The Chainlink blog features a detailed list with 44 examples of how the technology can be used with smart contracts [2].
[ Tokenomics ]
Chainlink’s native token, LINK (ERC20), is required to access, and participate in the oracle network. Node operators stake LINK with the network, for the purpose of reputation metrics and to disincentivize bad behaviour. LINK is also the native currency of the network; contract holders must pay LINK to node operators for maintaining an oracle and providing data. Therefore, the LINK token is a utility token, and not merely a symbolic representation of the project. Gemini, a reputable centralized exchange, has a helpful blog entry that discusses LINK token use, in addition to a general introduction to the Chainlink project [3].
[ Community and Communication ]
Chainlink is highly engaged with its community. The Chainlink Ecosystem [4] website provides an unofficially-curated selection of the latest news and information about partnerships, collaborations and integrations with the Chainlink network. The Chainlink Community Factsheets section contains high-quality documents detailing Chainlink scope of utility and important project milestones, in 10 different languages. This is a terrific place to begin further reading. The community, who identify themselves as “Link Marines” are active on Reddit, Telegram, WeChat, Weibo, Discord, and Gitter [5]. The Chainlink team also opperates official Twitter and YouTube accounts [6]. Activity on GitHub is frequent, with new updates appearing every 2-3 days [7]. The development team and advisors are presented on the team tab on the Chainlink website [8]. Sergey Nazarov, the co-founder and CEO of Chainlink’s parent company, SmartContract.com, is the project’s main spokesperson [9]. The Chainlink website includes a mailing address in Grand Cayman, and four contact e-mails [10]. There are no phone numbers provided.
[ Available Audits ]
Chainlink has been audited at least five times since 2018, by reputable auditors, including QuantStamp and SigmaPrime [11]. Chainlink also has an open bug bounty program.
[ Market and Trading Data ]
Chainlink’s price at the time of writing is $12.26. It’s all-time high was $19.83 (16th August 2020), and its all-time low was $0.148 (29th November, 2017). There are 389,509,556 tokens in circulation, of a 1,000,000,000 maximum supply. The current market capitalization is $4,785,618,839. The LINK token is available on major exchanges, including Binance, Digifinex, Kraken, Huobi Global, and Coinbase Pro. The 24-hour spot volumes range from $6,770,124 (Kraken) to $88,127,005 (Binance).
[ References ]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_machine
[2] https://blog.chain.link/44-ways-to-enhance-your-smart-contract-with-chainlink/
[3] https://gemini.com/learn/what-is-chainlink-and-how-does-it-work
[4] https://chainlinkecosystem.com/
[5] Reddit, https://www.reddit.com/r/Chainlink/; Telegram, https://t.me/chainlinkofficial; WeChat, https://blog.chain.link/chainlink-chinese-communities/; Weibo, https://weibo.com/chainlinkofficial; Discord, https://discord.gg/gyG7Td; Gitter, https://gitter.im/smartcontractkit-chainlink/Lobby.
[6] Twitter, https://twitter.com/chainlink; YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/c/ChainlinkOfficial;
[7] GitHub, https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink
[9] See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx8-VBijyXA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulyI_K-TFDI, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTaSvj9Fc60, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn5f3yN3lr0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIEQcEO1nZA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT0enNGV78s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-SzVFyddqE, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUwV2WivcA4
[10] Mailing, Strathvale House, 90 North Church Street, George Town, KY1-1102, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Security email, [email protected]; Technical support email, [email protected]; Custom projects email, [email protected]; Press email, [email protected]
[11] Consensys, https://consensys.github.io/blockchainSecurityDB/projects/chainlink/; QuantStamp, November 2018, https://github.com/smartcontractkit/audits/blob/master/reports/Quantstamp%20-%20Chainlink%20Audit%20Report.pdf; SigmaPrime, December 2018, https://github.com/sigp/public-audits/blob/master/chainlink-1/review.pdf; Nick Johnson, February 2019, https://github.com/smartcontractkit/audits/blob/master/reports/Nick%20Johnson%20-%20Chainlink%20Audit%20Report.pdf; SigmaPrime, May 2019, https://github.com/sigp/public-audits/blob/master/chainlink-2/review.pdf; Callisto Network, September, 2019, https://callisto.network/blog/post/chainlink-link-security-audit-report/; Bug bounty, https://hackerone.com/chainlink