AMA RECAP : CRYPTO CHALLENGERS x CHAIN LINK
Venue : CRYPTO CHALLENGERS
Date : 29 OCT 2021
Time : 04:00 PM UTC.
Guest: Marc Romero
They shared detailed information and his opinions about the project CHAIN LINK.
🔴 SEGMENT 1 INTRODUCTION
1. Could you please provide a quick self-introduction for the community?
Marc Romero 2.0:
I'm Marc Romero, a spanish guy that loves Blockchain Technology.
I studied computer science but, honestly, I don't like to code. ;)
Before to get involved in Blockchain ecosystem, I was running a family business dedicated to construction and rehabilitation of buildings. As you can see, not related at all !!!
In August 2017, one of my best friends introduced me Crypto and then I learned a little about Bitcoin and Ethereum. In mid 2018 I’ve found a tweet about a project named Chainlink and I was fascinated for their vision.
Since then, I have been learning from different social media until I applied to become a Chainlink Advocate (like Ambassador) on February 2020, to help the spread the word for the Hispanic Community.
After 8 months of hard work as a volunteer, I become full-time team member as a Community Manager @ Chainlink Labs for the Hispanic and European Communities.
What do you think about my experience?
2. Tell us about CHAINLINK. How and when did start this project?
Marc Romero 2.0:
Chainlink was created back in 2017 by Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis, who co-authored a Whitepaper introducing the Chainlink Protocol.
The same year they network with PhD Ari Juels (Cornell University professor)
Their vision was that Chainlink acts as a "bridge" between a blockchain and off-chain environaments, to solve the oracle problem. (later I'll talk about this)
The network is used by smart contracts and was formally launched in 2019 on Ethereum mainnet.
Chainlink published a 2nd whitepaper in April 2021. That paper, Chainlink 2.0 : Next Steps in the Evolution of Decentralized Oracle Networks.
There is detailed a vision for expanding the role and capabilities of decentralized oracle networks (known as DON) to include hybrid smart contracts, which utilize on-chain code and off-chain services provided by oracle networks.
Here an image:
3. What is the Oracle problem?
Marc Romero 2.0:
The "Oracle Problem" is also known as the "smart contract connectivity problem".
It refers to a blockchain's inability to natively pull DATA from or push to any external off-chain System.
This is due to the strong security properties created by a blockchain's consensus mechanism.
In order to create a "BRIDGE" between the blockchain (on-chain) and the OUTSIDE WORLD (off-chain), there requires an additional and separate piece of infrastructure known as an “oracle”.
Maybe you want to know what is an Oracle, right?
A blockchain oracle is a secure piece of MIDDLEWARE that facilitates communication between blockchains and any off-chain system, including data providers, web APIs, enterprise backends, cloud providers, IoT devices, e-signatures, payment systems, other blockchains, and more.
However, the use of a centralized oracle (STRONGLY not recommended) can result in manipulated data inputs and outputs, meaning the oracle mechanism itself needs to be highly decentralized to ensure the security of a smart contract’s execution is maintained end-to-end.
Once that said...
CHAINLINK is a blockchain abstraction layer that enables universally connected smart contracts.
Chainlink allows blockchains to securely interact with external data feeds, events, and payment methods, providing the critical off-chain information needed by complex smart contracts to become the dominant form of digital agreement.
I understand that at first sight it seems a little bit complex, but no worries we have a lot of info in our site.
4. What makes CHAINLINK special in the blockchain space?
Marc Romero 2.0:
Ever since Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has become more popular, there has been a growing interest in high-quality oracle services. After all, most of these projects use smart contracts in one way or the other, and they also require external data to run properly.
With centralized oracle services, DeFi platforms can leave themselves vulnerable to a wide range of attacks, including flash loan attacks through oracle manipulation.
Multiple incidents have already occurred, and they'll likely keep happening if centralized oracles are still common.
Chainlink, at this moment, is the most widely adopted and time-tested decentralized oracle network (DON) (sorry to repeat this but sure that you'll never forgot) for connecting smart contracts in any blockchain to any off-chain datasets or computations The network secures $75B+ (yes! you read correctly) for hundreds of dApps, and continues to increase in integrations each day.
Take in consideration that the TVL in DeFi actually is 102,75 B USD according to Defipulse site.
There are now around 900 projects that integrates our services and growing day by day.
You could check them all at http://chainlinkecosystem.com/ecosystem
You could find over there companies like: Amazon, Google, Oracle, SwissCom, Intel, Microsoft, Ernst & Young, Associated Press, Accuweather, T-Mobile, Hedera Hashgraph and SWIFT.
I share this image for a better comprehension.
5. What is the best way for someone watching today to get started with the CHAINLINK?
Marc Romero 2.0:
(better quality)
There are 2 possibilities:
If you're a developer, take in consideration that right now we're running our FALL HACKATHON. There are multiple YT videos on how to connect smart contracts to Chainlink oracles. (Since I don't like to code I don't participate, but 🤫 please)
Check the Hackathon official site: https://chain.link/hackathon
Also you have a lot of documentation on docs.chain.link.
In other way, if you’re a Blockchain enthusiasm, like me, and just want to learn more about the technology ("I’m here for the technology") you could check our Official Youtube channel where there are a bunch of videos explaining the technology.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnjkrlqaWEBSnKZQ71gdyFA
More than 550k USD in prizes. Not bad.
6. Which are your actual PRODUCTS?
Marc Romero 2.0:
OK. A lot of stuff in here. Let's do it.....
First of all and most common:
DECENTRALIZED PRICE FEEDS:
Price Feeds that can be integrated in any DeFi application to obtain access to a high-quality, tamper-resistant, and fresh source of financial market data on a wide range of assets with full market coverage.
Marc Romero 2.0:
I'll explain right now, how that works...
First, premium data providers aggregate raw price data from a multitude of centralized and decentralized exchanges, accounting for time, volume, and outliers.
Next, independent Chainlink nodes fetch market price data from various premium data providers and combine the results into an aggregated value.
Lastly, multiple Chainlink nodes aggregate their results together off-chain to generate a tamper-resistant oracle report, which is made available to smart contracts.
You could check all that information on data.chain.link site.
Take in consideration that nowdays 12 from the 18th top DeFi projects are using Chainlink Price Feeds.
Marc Romero 2.0:
A Verifiable Random Function (VRF) providing NFTs and on-chain gaming applications a provably fair and secure Random Number Generator (RNG) purpose-built for smart contract applications.
For example Axie Infinity and more are using VRF services in their platform.
To learn more check https://chain.link/chainlink-vrf
3rd one....
Proof of Reserve (PoR) enabling smart contracts to audit the true collateralization of any on-chain asset backed by off-chain reserves such as fiat-backed stablecoins, cross-chain tokens, tokenized assets, and more. As an example Gemini is using PoR.
As always do your own research... https://chain.link/proof-of-reserve
The next one.... (a bit complex but very useful)
Keepers. Providing dApp developers a reliable, decentralized, and cost-efficient transaction automation service for triggering smart contract functions and performing contract maintenance by leveraging off-chain computation. https://chain.link/keepers.
7. What is next on the CHAINLINK roadmap?
Marc Romero 2.0:
If you don't mind before I answer your question I want to share with you one post that talks about different use cases.
Marc Romero 2.0:
https://blog.chain.link/44-ways-to-enhance-your-smart-contract-with-chainlink/
As per rule we don't give timelines on our developments since we want that once is on live, should be perfect. (after some audits and some test on testnet).
Right now there are a lot of things that we're working on, like:
Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) is an open-source standard for the multi-chain ecosystem, enabling cross-chain applications that can send messages and transfer tokens with commands across multiple blockchains. (this will blow your mind)
CCIP aims to establish a universal connection between hundreds of blockchain networks, both private and public, unlocking isolated tokens and empowering cross-chain applications for all on-chain ecosystems.
Marc Romero 2.0:
(as said under development)
Another one is...
Modular External Adapters for connecting to any off-chain resource including premium data providers, authenticated web APIs, IoT sensors, bank payments, enterprise backends, other blockchain networks, and more.
And one of the most interesting ones....
Off-chain computation such as Fair Sequencing Services for transaction ordering, DECO for privacy-preserving attestations of TLS web session data, Arbitrum Rollups for scalable off-chain Solidity computation, and more.
As you can see there is a lot of work to do!!
Remember that we're hiring! So if you're interested feel free to check all our open roles at https://chainlinklabs.com
(Chainlink Labs is the name of the Company)
In our perception the adoption of smart contracts will increase exponentially...
Marc Romero 2.0:
(my bad if the quality is not good enough)
Right now as I mentioned there are 102,75 B dollars in DeFi
2,794 T USD in Crypto
Do you think is a lot of money?
Check this image.
Marc Romero 2.0:
We expect that Trillions of dollars will flow into DeFi and Crypto in a near future
Remember that we're here for the technology 🤗
Take in consideration that for us LINK token is an UTILITY token.
Link tokens are used to pay node operators for retrieving data for smart contracts and also for deposits placed by node operators as required by contract creators.
The Link token is an ERC677 token that inherits functionality from the ERC20 token standard and allows token transfers to contain a data payload.
You can store Chainlink in any ERC20 compatible wallet.
8. Where is the best place for someone to reach you? Twitter? Telegram? Discord? Website?
Marc Romero 2.0:
Chainlink have several social media channels :
Web: chain.link
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chainlink
Telegram: https://t.me/chainlinkofficial
Discord server: https://discord.com/invite/aSK4zew
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnjkrlqaWEBSnKZQ71gdyFA
My twitter account is @marcomerona
On our YT Official channel you'll find a lot of info (very interesting)
ANNNNNNNNDDDD I finish!!!!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!
⚪ SEGMENT 2 TELEGRAM LIVE
Q1-:
How can users stay updated with this project? Are there channels, including local communities where users can get the latest updates??
Marc Romero 2.0:
Feel free to subscribe to our Official social media channels like Twitter and Telegram posted above. (You'll find me on Telegram)
If you're a developer I highly suggest joining our technical Discord here: https://discord.gg/aSK4zew where we have developers, team members, and node operators.
For those who ask about to buy the tokens, please, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH and don’t trust whoever DMs you. And remember that we use LINK token as an UTILITY token. (very important).
Q2-রাশেদ বিদেশ:
Hello sir,,,💓Do you have AUDIT certificates, or are you working to AUDIT your project, to make it more secure and reliable???♥
Marc Romero 2.0:
Every service that we offer have passed several audits. Also our nodes.
Q3-রাশেদ বিদেশ:
🏖️🌹 PARTNERSHIP & COLLABORATIONS are the backbone in making every project more widespread. Can you list some of ur partners with us?💗🌹
Marc Romero 2.0:
Check https://www.chainlinkecosystem.com/ecosystem/
Near 900 integrations right now.
Q4-:
Q2) Which do you think is more important:A. Community
B. Investors
C. Token PriceIf all of the above is important to you, whiich should come first?
Marc Romero 2.0:
TECHNOLOGY and ADOPTION. The rest will come.
Q4-রাশেদ বিদেশ:
Can you list 1-3 killer features of this project that makes it ahead of its competitors? What is the competitive advantage your project has that you feel most confident about?
Marc Romero 2.0:
Number of integrations compared.
For those who ask about the Ambassador Program...
Chainlink Advocates Program:
Advocates are passionate champions of blockchain technology who bring their local communities together to advance awareness and adoption of smart contracts and spread the word of Chainlink.
https://chain.link/community/advocates
Chainlink Developer Experts:
Chainlink Developer Experts are smart contract and blockchain developers with deep experience building with Chainlink who are passionate about sharing their technical knowledge with the world.
https://chain.link/developers/experts
Both of them are volunteer. (But I began like this 😉).
Q5-Temitope Awoyinka:
⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️Can you tell me more about the TOKEN SALE
ARE YOU LIVE YET
HOW CAN I GET WHITELISTED. ?
🔥⚠️
Marc Romero 2.0:
ICO was in 2017.
Q6-Parker:
Can you tell us about your team members? are they qualified and professional in their fields? what are the recruiting qualifications for team members for your extraordinary project?Thanks
Marc Romero 2.0:
Absolutely. All of them have a lot of experience. In my case I show them all my work and efforts in that ecosystem working for them (for free)
If you want to follow me I'm on Twitter: @marcomerona . And if you join our Telegram Official channel I'm always there.
Q7-Syed Wasi Ali Shah:
How will you continue to promote this product in the future? Do you already have plans for other interfaces with other companies?
Marc Romero 2.0:
We participate in a lot of events promoting the protocol and networking with a lot of different projects. Next event that we'l participate is Solana Breakpoint next week.
Q8-:
What is your biggest challenge during the time that you build your project? How do you feel when you overcome this?
Marc Romero 2.0:
Chainlink is a stratup. When I’ve joined last year we were 90 people. Right now we’re like 300 people and growing. It’s fascinating.
Q9-He മലയാളി:
Do you consider community feedback/requests during the creation process to expand on new ideas for your project? Many projects fail because they do not understand the target audience and customers. So I want to know who is the ideal consumer for your product?
Marc Romero 2.0:
Community Team are constantly in contact with the Community members. It's my job and I like it!
One of the most commented things on our Telegram channel. PLEASE ....
Marc Romero 2.0:
Remember: We will not PM you first. We will never ask for your passwords, keys, or funds for any reason. We don’t have special deals to offer you and there is not now nor will there ever be a Chainlink airdrop.NEVER WIL BE AN AIRDROP
NEVER. There are a lot of scammers. Please be cautious.
Don't want to waste your time. Feel free to join our Telegram and I'll be happy to share with you.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH. IT'S WAS AN HONOR TO PARTICPATE HERE.
Muchas gracias!!
Here's a list of all current telegram communities.
Chainlink – Telegram communities
Korea - @chainlink_korea
SE Asia - @chainlinkSEA
Indonesia - @ChainlinkID
Spain/LatAm - @chainlinkedesp
Turkey - @chainlinkTR
Italian – @Chainlink_italian
Finnish – @chainlinksuomi
Sweden - @chainlinkSWEDEN
France – @chainlinkFRA
German - @Chainlinkgerman
Dutch - @chainlinkNL
Middle East - @chainlinkME
Japan - @chainlinkJAPAN
Russia - @chainlinkRUSSIADO YOUR OWN RESEARCH
And keep supporting CryptoChallengers!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll appreciate your community feedback once you unmute the channel. ;)
