Today marks four years since Chainlink went live on mainnet. Since then, Chainlink has grown into the leading web3 services platform, comprising more than a thousand distinct oracle networks and essential infrastructure such as VRF (Verifiable Random Function), Proof of Reserve (PoR), and Automation. While powering increasingly sophisticated use cases for smart contracts, Chainlink has enabled more than $7.7 trillion in transaction value throughout the decentralized economy.
To celebrate its four-year anniversary, Chainlink released a new episode of Block Stories, a docuseries devoted to uncovering what drives blockchain pioneers in the Chainlink Ecosystem to build a world powered by cryptographic truth. Block Stories’ newest installment features Chainlink co-founders Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis reflecting on Chainlink’s evolution on the path toward a cryptographically guaranteed future.
They distilled Chainlink’s ultimate goal to facilitate systems run by truth instead of trust in flimsy paper promises that are too easily broken by brands and institutions.
“There are many signs, if you look around, of degrading trust in traditional institutions,” Ellis said. “You can see it in media, in government, financial policy – there are places where people are not keeping their promises.”
Nazarov pointed to the 2008 financial crisis as “a good example of the negative effect of paper promises” on individuals and society. He said solving this problem was the inspiration to build Chainlink.
“Our technology allows people to form relationships without the need to put your faith in anyone’s promises, because once you cryptographically commit to something, you’re not relying on promises; you’re relying on mathematics,” he explained.
Ellis attributes the resilience of Chainlink’s time- and battle-tested infrastructure to Chainlink Labs’ “heads down” approach to delivering value irrespective of hype or skepticism surrounding the blockchain industry.
“I’ve actually always viewed skepticism as a very positive signal,” Nazarov said. People that shy away from skepticism, they’re missing out on the future.”
“In a world filled with all of this hype, delivering what we had promised people is what really seemed important,” Ellis added. “And what I’ve found is that smart people want to work on hard problems.”
The smart people building Chainlink now include former Diem CTO, Dahlia Malkhi, and former director of product management for Google’s TensorFlow, Kemal El Moujahid, who highlighted web3’s current inflection point.
“Those big waves of innovation, there’s always this moment where things start to mature and from then on, they accelerate,” he said.
“I’m really impressed by the dedication and the ownership that people have towards building the Chainlink Network,” said Nazarov. “I’m really thrilled to be working with people that see what we’re working on will change the entire industry’s work.”
Having grown to power more than 80% of decentralized finance (DeFi), Chainlink aims to accelerate the adoption of cryptographic truth across industries like blockchain-based gaming and decentralized insurance in order to positively impact people’s lives around the world.
“The infrastructure we make isn’t a nicety,” Nazarov said. “It’s a necessity.”
Watch Episode 3 of Block Stories featuring Chainlink co-founders Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis.