On June 7, the Chainlink team published its “Long-Term Goals, Roadmap, and Initial Implementation,” outlining the following stages for the data oracle blockchain project.
The blog post referred to “Chainlink Economics 2.0” with its focus on staking as part of the effort to scale the system and integrate more blockchain networks.
Staking is a mechanism that brings a new layer of ‘cryptoeconomic security’ to Chainlink, it explained. The same is true for most proof-of-stake blockchains that reward stakers for helping to secure the network.
Focus on staking
There are four long-term goals for Chainlink, which launched oracles on Solana earlier this month, but the underlying principle was explained as follows:
“The staking of LINK in turn enhances the ability for nodes to receive jobs and earn corresponding fees within the Chainlink Network.”
The main purpose of staking is to increase the security and guarantees for users of oracle Chainlink services. LINK tokens are locked as a “service level guarantee around network performance,” he explained. Additionally, incentives and penalties such as cuts enable Chainlink nodes to consistently generate accurate oracle reports and deliver them in a timely manner.
The second goal is to encourage community participation and involvement. Additionally, node operators can create delegated staking systems, similar to what Tezos does.
Third, Chainlink staking aims to generate sustainable rewards from real long-term usage. He expects long-term growth to result in a greater portion of staking rewards coming from “non-emissions-based sources.”
The final goal is to “empower node operators to access higher-value jobs by staking.” This means that over time, node operators will have greater opportunities to participate in Decentralized Oracle Networks (DONs), furthering the security even more.
The rollout of the staking mechanism will be incremental, evolving as its oracle streams have done from a single stream on ETH/USD to thousands of them. The initial v0.1 release is planned for later this year, with planned upgrades to v1 and v2 ushering in additional functionality.
In February, Bank of America gave Chainlink a big plug stating that its oracles could disrupt major industries.
LINK price up 12%
Chainlink’s native token reacted strongly to the roadmap update with an 18% surge the previous day before pulling back slightly. From around $7.40 as of this time yesterday, LINK hit an intraday high of $8.83 during Wednesday morning’s Asian trading session.
The token was trading at $8.40 at the time of writing, having gained more than 10% over the past fortnight. However, the longer-term trend is still bearish, as LINK is down 84% from its May 2021 all-time high of $52.70.
