Bessie Liu

DeFi lending protocol MakerDAO has onboarded crypto oracle Chainlink to its Keeper Network on the heels of a vote by the DAO’s native token holders. 



The Keeper Network is an interface used by MakerDAO to interact with third-party protocols to maintain Maker’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/dai">DAI</a> — including oracles and <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/societe-generale-withdraws-makerdao-vault">liquidating vaults</a>.



“If a failure occurs in one of these systems, it could cause the end of DAI,” the company said in a post on its website.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Existing protocols in the Keeper Network include TechOps, Keep3r Network and Gelato Network.



Now, with the addition of Chainlink’s oracle framework to Maker’s tech stack, DAI is set to have an added layer of security as it participates in the networks’ verification and maintenance process. 



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Two renowned security pillars of the decentralized financial system are now working together for the first time. We’re happy to announce that MakerDAO has onboarded <a href="https://twitter.com/chainlink?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Chainlink</a> Automation as part of its Keeper Network. <a href="https://t.co/wjouZzcqpS">pic.twitter.com/wjouZzcqpS</a>&mdash; Maker (@MakerDAO) <a href="https://twitter.com/MakerDAO/status/1623729412389670921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Nadia Álvarez of <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/makerdao" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MakerDAO</a>’s Growth Core Unit said the Market Network is underpinned by “sophisticated technology and tools that quietly but constantly run in the background to ensure DAI’s stability.”



“This network of automated bots perform essential tasks to maintain the Maker protocol and will be greatly expanded through the integration with Chainlink’s renowned, hyper-reliable automation platform,” Álvarez said in a statement.



The chainlink automation on Maker’s protocol will manage price updates, liquidity balancing and debt ceiling upgrades, according to the company.&nbsp;



Johann Eid, a vice president at Chainlink Labs, said that “as more and more traditional financial institutions partner with MakerDAO and assess the applicability of DeFi, the required underlying infrastructure becomes increasingly complex.”



Added Eid: “Integrating Chainlink with MakerDAO demonstrates the necessity for highly performant automation infrastructure and indicates a prosperous future for decentralized financial services.”



<h3>Maker eyeing crypto credit liquidity boost</h3>



MakerDAO participants are also in the process of looking into creating Spark Protocol — a new liquidity market for lending and borrowing DAI.



This new protocol’s first product — Spark Lend (SL)— would allow anyone to borrow DAI at the Dai Savings Rate (DSR) of 1%.&nbsp;



Collateral accepted by the SL will be highly liquid, according to a Maker <a href="https://forum.makerdao.com/t/announcing-phoenix-labs-and-spark-protocol/19731">proposal</a>. This is so that the product will not compete with markets that offer “tail assets.” Accepted collateral at launch would include, at least, <a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com/assets/dai">DAI</a>, <a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com/assets/eth">ETH</a> and Lido’s wsETH, as well as <a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com/assets/wbtc">WTBC</a> and DRC-locked DAI, with plans to include <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/makerdao-offering-high-savings-yields">fixed-term crypto yield products</a> and Maker’s synthetic liquid staking derivative (LSD), EtherDAI.



“By focusing on highly liquid, decentralized assets with large market caps, SL will aim to be the most secure platform in all of DeFi,” the proposal said.&nbsp;



Spark would utilize Aave v3’s smart contract — and if given the green light by the Maker community, will be giving 10% of its protocol earnings to Aave for two years.



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MakerDAO Onboarded Another Protocol to Its Keeper Network

Michael Bodley

Mark Chainlink Labs as the latest crypto company instituting layoffs and blaming the bear market — while lining up opportunistic new products.&nbsp;



The firm — which powers oracle solutions and related smart contracts tied into Chainlink’s blockchain ecosystem — laid off a “good chunk” of its sales staffers in recent weeks, according to a source familiar with the matter. A second source confirmed cuts took place, adding that the focus of the downsizing was around Chainlink Labs’ enterprise sales team, which predominantly deals with institutions.



Chainlink Labs’ unspecified number of cuts are the latest indicator of an emerging trend. It’s not new that digital asset-focused companies have been forced by the market to lay off staffers to preserve balance sheets. But such efforts have been increasingly concentrated on sales and marketing seats, including business development and investor relations roles.



The rationale: Potential institutional customers have been dropping like flies as formerly interested parties put their crypto dealings on pause in the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bankman-fried-puts-off-house-testimony-on-ftx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wake</a> of FTX’s bankruptcy. It’s hard to justify shelling out for an entire sales team, according to one source, when they “don’t really have anyone to call.”



A spokesperson for Chainlink Labs said the platform is still seeing “massive demand” for its core and emerging products — and largely declined to comment on the recent layoffs. Sources were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive business dealings.&nbsp;



“As we are constantly evaluating our business, we recently opted to shift some headcount investment from sales into product and engineering,” the spokesperson said. The startup is continuing to add to its overall headcount, the representative added. The company did make several <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/latest-in-crypto-hiring-chainlink-labs-binance-us-3iq-make-key-additions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">key hires</a> earlier this year.&nbsp;



Indeed, Chainlink on Tuesday rolled out a <a href="https://chain.link/economics/staking" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">new staking mechanism</a> for holders of its token, LINK. The idea is to stake LINK tokens to power and execute on smart contracts that tie into Chainlink’s oracle solution. In digital assets, oracles strive, in part, to serve as a hub of sorts that connects different blockchains under the aim of guiding interoperability. 



Chainlink representatives dubbed the effort as ushering in a “new era of sustainable growth and security” for the protocol. The staking pool helps maintain Chainlink’s data-focused efforts between the dollar and ether, specifically —&nbsp;with staking participants being rewarded for monitoring lapses in the performance of the tool.



The staking pool, which is slated to be in beta testing for an unspecified period, is set to be initially capped at 25 million LINK token, good for 2.5% of the protocol’s circulating supply and about 5% of its total supply.



What exactly spurred the layoffs is not clear, but one source attributed the move to the downturn in broader cryptocurrency markets. And the cuts could have been even steeper. The source said there were internal, high-level conversations in recent weeks about parting ways with the entire institutional sales team.&nbsp;



That didn’t happen, the source said — and it appears a middle ground was found in terms of keeping higher-performing salespeople and parting ways with underperforming ones.&nbsp;



“If you have exposure to all of this, you have to cut somewhere,” the source said. “And, now, it’s always sales…They’re not essential [in a bear market].”



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Chainlink Adds Staking After Cutting Sales Staffers

Ben Strack

<div id="highlights-block_6272b2c2abd98" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Firm expects “a more thematic approach to digital assets” to continue as investors look beyond BTC, ETH</li>
 <li>Competitor 21Shares has launched similar products this year</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



CoinShares has launched two more crypto ETPs in Germany, bringing the firm’s total ETP (exchange-traded product) launches this year to seven.&nbsp;



The Physical Chainlink and Physical Uniswap ETPs are listed on Germany&#8217;s main market Xetra, the company announced Wednesday. They each carry a management fee of 1.5%.



CoinShares Chief Revenue Officer Frank Spiteri said in a statement that investors have gained interest in digital assets beyond bitcoin and ethereum as the sector has evolved.



“A more thematic approach to digital assets is emerging amongst those most familiar with crypto, and we expect that trend to continue as research and investor education improves,” he said.



A CoinShares spokesperson didn’t immediately return a request for further comment.&nbsp;



Oracle protocol Chainlink is designed to bridge real-world information to the smart contracts running on a blockchain platform. Its native currency, LINK, has a market capitalization of roughly $5 billion, according to data compiled by Blockworks.



An alternative to centralized exchanges, Uniswap allows users to either trade or provide the liquidity that supports trading activities within its application. Uniswap (UNI) has a market cap of roughly $3.2 billion.&nbsp;&nbsp;



CoinShares manages roughly $3.3 billion in assets. After a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinshares-latest-to-benefit-from-booming-interest-in-european-crypto-products/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">record fourth quarter</a> that saw the company notch its highest quarterly earnings and assets under management, its executives on Tuesday <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinshares-q1-earnings-slide-retail-remains-focus-execs-say/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported a slide</a> last quarter.



The launches follow the firm last week <a href="https://coinshares.com/news/coinshares-and-ftx-physical-ftx-token-etp" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bringing to Xetra</a> a physically-backed FTX Token ETP in partnership with the crypto exchange. The product had seed capital of roughly $40 million.



Others have launched similar products in recent months. 



Competitor 21Shares <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/21-shares-expands-crypto-etps/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launched ETPs</a> with LINK and UNI as underlying assets in February, as crypto ETPs <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinshares-latest-to-benefit-from-booming-interest-in-european-crypto-products/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">continue to proliferate</a> in Europe. 21Shares added products focused on FTX Token (FTT) and Decentraland (MANA) that same month.



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CoinShares Launches Chainlink, Uniswap ETPs in Germany

<div id="highlights-block_625efbaff8465" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>By storing carbon credits as digital tokens, they can be more easily tracked and traded</li>
 <li>Companies using blockchains and smart contracts to advance climate change initiatives to become “industry norm,” according to Chainlink Labs</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Blockchain technology will play a key role in combating climate change by managing clean energy solutions and enabling enhanced automation, a report by Chainlink Labs and Tecnalia says.



<a href="https://chainlinklabs.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chainlink Labs</a>, which offers open-source blockchain interoperability solutions, and European research institute <a href="https://www.tecnalia.com/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tecnalia</a> posited in a <a href="https://chain.link/resources/managing-climate-change-energy-industry" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> Tuesday that the energy industry can make clean energy investments more efficient by leveraging blockchain technologies.  



By tapping blockchains, the power business can better digitize and value clean energy investments, according to the report. That would likely lead to additional capital deployed to green investment opportunities, more transparency and stronger accountability when it comes to meeting climate-friendly commitments, the two companies found.&nbsp;



The report labels “hybrid smart contracts” as the new backend framework necessary for building clean energy solutions. The framework uses blockchains to track and settle multi-party processes and smart contracts to define the rules for involved parties.



It also uses oracles — or interoperability solutions for blockchains built on smart contracts — to integrate data and non-blockchain infrastructure into the contracts.



More than 140 research projects and startups had begun studying, testing and deploying blockchain-based solutions as of 2019 to improve energy industry processes, the report says.



“As more and more companies recognize how blockchains, smart contracts and oracles can advance climate change initiatives, we’ll begin to see a trend that will only grow with time until it becomes an industry norm,” a Chainlink Labs spokesperson told Blockworks.&nbsp;



Among the use cases outlined in the report are tokenized carbon credits, which companies buy to offset emissions. By storing carbon credits as digital tokens, the thinking goes, the tokens can be more easily tracked and traded, and oracles can then issue and audit them.



Oracles can use satellite and remote sensing data to measure the carbon sequestration in a certain region to verify a project’s stated carbon offset before issuing a credit.



Hybrid smart contract system Hyphen, for example, uses Chainlink oracles to bring verified greenhouse gas data on-chain and prove stated corporate climate commitments.



“We can now supply validated real-world measurements to dynamic carbon assets,” Hyphen CEO Miles Austin said in a statement. “This gives confidence to investors, capital markets, banks [and] regulators.”



Like the tokenization of carbon credits, climate bonds and green bonds — fixed income instruments that raise money for environmental projects — can also be tokenized on blockchains.



Ethereum-based climate risk solutions platform <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3508495-1&amp;h=1682524004&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.arbolmarket.com%2Fenergy&amp;a=Arbol" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arbol</a> uses smart contracts to help energy businesses hedge power demand and revenue fluctuations around changing temperatures.



Individuals could also be incentivized to reduce emissions through rewards programs, according to the report. Consumers could be compensated with crypto or NFTs in exchange for meeting the requirements of a smart contract designed to minimize their carbon footprint.



Going forward, clean energy industry leaders must assign researchers to focus on the benefits of blockchain technology and how they can leverage smart contract and oracle technologies before competitors, the Chainlink Labs representative said.



“What they discover will motivate them to act,” the spokesperson added. “And that momentum on an industry-wide level will help facilitate the inflection point we need to realize a more sustainable future.”



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Blockchain Tech Is Key to Combating Climate Change, Report Says

<div id="highlights-block_61f97af204c68" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>21Shares manages more than $2 billion in 26 cryptocurrency ETPs and 87 listings across 10 European and Swiss exchanges</li>
 <li>The firm plans to feature dozens more cryptocurrencies in ETPs by year-end</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



21Shares, the world’s largest issuer of crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs), has launched three more such products in Switzerland as the firm looks to expand its offerings this year.&nbsp;



The company&#8217;s new ETPs, which launched on the BX Swiss exchange, have <a href="https://aave.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aave</a> (AAVE), <a href="https://chain.link" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chainlink</a> (LINK) and <a href="https://uniswap.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Uniswap</a> (UNI) as their underlying assets. The offerings carry a fee of 250 basis points.&nbsp;



Each offers performance directly linked to the asset without leverage. 21Shares holds the underlying crypto assets in cold storage.



Aave allows users to borrow assets and earn interest on deposits, while Chainlink enables smart contracts to create efficient blockchains for real-time data and computation. Decentralized crypto exchange Uniswap offers a protocol that delivers liquidity and trading for tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.



“DeFi is clearly a theme of great interest and activity in crypto and these three assets are some of the largest and best known infrastructural pieces underpinning a lot of DeFi activities,” Hany Rashwan, CEO and co-founder of 21Shares, told Blockworks. “These three assets are among the best of the space, offering loans, oracle and exchange infrastructure that is absolutely vital for the space to continue growing.”



LINK’s market capitalization was about $8 billion Tuesday afternoon, which was the 21st-highest among coins, according to CoinGecko. The market caps of UNI and AAVE are roughly $5.1 billion and $2.2 billion, respectively.



21Shares <a href="https://21shares.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">manages</a> more than $2 billion in 26 cryptocurrency ETPs and 87 listings. Its products are listed on 10 regulated European and Swiss trading exchanges.



The firm currently offers 18 single-asset tracker ETPs. Its bitcoin and ether ETPs launched in February 2019 and March 2019, respectively.



Rashwan said lots of “very innovative projects across every crypto vertical” are not yet supported by ETPs, noting the firm aims to support what the firm considers the top 50 cryptocurrencies by the end of the year. 



The firm evaluates new listings based on trading metrics, its team, investors, community and social reach, among other factors. The CEO declined to share specific assets 21Shares is considering for ETPs.



The company also anticipates listing additional indexes and more specialized products, such as its Short Bitcoin ETP, which borrows BTC and simultaneously sells it to create short exposure.



21Shares’ latest products follow its <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/21shares-crypto-etp-in-europe-excludes-btc-and-eth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launch of a Crypto Mid-Cap Index ETP</a> in December.&nbsp; Tracking an index that excludes bitcoin and ether, the product’s largest holding at the time of launch was binance coin (BNB), with a nearly 31% weighting.


[stock_market_widget type=&#8221;accordion&#8221; template=&#8221;chart&#8221; color=&#8221;#5679FF&#8221; assets=&#8221;AAVE-USD,BNB-USD,LINK-USD,UNI-USD&#8221; start_expanded=&#8221;false&#8221; display_currency_symbol=&#8221;true&#8221; api=&#8221;yf&#8221; chart_range=&#8221;1mo&#8221; chart_interval=&#8221;1d&#8221;]



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21Shares Aims to Have ETPs for Top 50 ‘Quality Assets’ by End of 2022

Macauley Peterson

<div id="highlights-block_61b0bd78067c9" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Schmidt served as Google’s CEO from 2001 to 2011, and now runs a venture firm, Schmidt Futures</li>
 <li>In a statement announcing the appointment, Schmidt praised Chainlink for “unlocking the potential of smart contract platforms and revolutionizing business and society”</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Oracle infrastructure provider <a href="https://chainlinklabs.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chainlink Labs</a> has signed Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, as a strategic advisor.



The Chainlink Network secures oracle data feeds that are responsible for triggering and securing more than $80 billion worth of value locked, across several blockchains.&nbsp;



Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov, said in a statement, “Eric’s experience and insights around building global software platforms for next-generation innovation will be invaluable as we help developers and institutions usher in a new age of economic fairness and transparency.”



Schmidt served as Google’s CEO from 2001 to 2011, and was at the helm for the company’s 2004 IPO at a valuation of $24 billion. Today the company’s ubiquitous Web2 apps like Gmail, Google Maps, Chrome, and YouTube helped generate a record <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/266206/googles-annual-global-revenue/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$181 billion in revenue</a> during 2020.



While phasing out his involvement at Google Schmidt co-founded Schmidt Futures in 2017, <a href="https://schmidtfutures.com/our-method/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">which bills itself</a> as a venture facility for public benefit.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“The launch of blockchains and smart contracts has demonstrated tremendous potential for the building of new business models, but it has become clear that one of blockchain’s greatest advantages — a lack of connection to the world outside itself — is also its biggest challenge,” said Schmidt.</blockquote>



A blockchain oracle is critical to the functioning of many smart contracts, particularly when they need to access off-chain data and systems.<a href="https://chain.link/"> </a>Chainlink aggregates such real world data and makes it available to the logic contained in blockchain-based smart contracts.



For example, Chainlink’s collaboration with <a href="https://cloud.google.com/public-datasets" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google Cloud’s Public Datasets Program</a> allows weather data to be directly available to emerging Web3 capital markets, according to <a href="https://medium.com/google-cloud/hedging-against-bad-weather-with-cloud-datasets-and-blockchain-oracles-7ba3e0150304" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a blog post</a> published by Google Cloud earlier this year. Data from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) database of weather data, can power smart contract crop insurance, and the two companies have built a proof of concept for an Ethereum testnet.



Chainlink has called itself blockchain agnostic, and <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chainlink-announces-cross-chain-interoperability-protocol-ccip-301349599.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> the<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chainlink-announces-cross-chain-interoperability-protocol-ccip-301349599.html__;!!PuLkPvyT3vEAvUES!RAKhHSed1ZZ-o8HhvYyCHboquOWwmcsGZyaTCVbcNVmDbo47L5cTr9ePI2hUK9he3h4$"> </a>Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), to provide a universal, open standard for developers program actions across multi-blockchain ecosystem.



Schmidt’s appointment is unrelated to his prior work at Google, a Chainlink Labs representative told Blockworks.



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Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Now Advising Chainlink

Sam Reynolds

<div id="highlights-block_61840945d1dea" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Market data enables DeFi and other financial use cases of the blockchain to thrive. But to get this data on-chain, you need to use an oracle like Chainlink </li>
 <li>Some of the world’s largest telecom companies are involved in Chainlink’s oracle network</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Seventy-five billion dollars worth of smart contracts are secured by Chainlink’s oracle pipes, the company said Thursday, marking a significant milestone for the crypto industry’s largest oracle.



Oracles like Chainlink are the way that decentralized applications on the blockchain, such as decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, obtain data to execute contracts. As many trades are based on things such as the US dollar’s value, Chainlink is the intermediary that allows for this key piece of data to exist on the blockchain. And given that DeFi, as a sector, has over $200 billion in value locked in, there needs to be significant robustness to the network providing it with data.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Market data in DeFi is just the first area where Chainlink is beginning to secure and trigger massive amounts of smart contract value,” said Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink, in a statement.&nbsp;



“As more and more organizations launch Chainlink nodes, we’re seeing all sorts of datasets enter blockchains through Chainlink,” he said. “Chainlink oracles are rapidly moving beyond data delivery and into the world of off-chain computation, meaning the network can provide randomness, automation, privacy, and scalability for smart contracts, expanding what those hybrid smart contracts are able to achieve.”



As a testament to just how important these oracles are to the DeFi industry, Swisscom, one of Switzerland’s largest telecommunications companies, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/data-for-defi-switzerlands-swisscom-joins-chainlink-as-node-operator/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced in August</a> it is joining Chainlink’s network as an oracle harnessing its vast, robust network to facilitate Chainlink’s data streams much like it does for the TradFi industry in Europe. Deutsche Telekom’s T-Systems also participates in a similar fashion. In October, the Associated Press <a href="https://www.ap.org/press-releases/2021/ap-chainlink-to-bring-trusted-data-onto-leading-blockchains" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> that it would provide elections and sports data to Chainlink’s nodes.&nbsp;



Chainlink is the sixteenth largest digital asset by market cap, <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/chainlink" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to CoinGecko data</a>, and is currently trading at $30.57, down 3% during the last 24 hours. 



This story was updated for accuracy on November 4, 2021, at 1:17 pm ET.

Chainlink Says $75B Worth of Smart Contracts Secured by Its Network

Sam Martin

<div id="highlights-block_617725d07bf3f" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The total number of DeFi users sits north of 3.631 million users, which in the grand scheme of things is only scratching the surface of its total addressable market</li>
 <li>Digital asset investment products saw inflows of $1.47 billion last week, which represented the largest inflows on record by a long shot</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Total value locked (TVL) across all chains hit an all-time high today when denominated in US dollars.



Uniswap surpasses $500 billion in lifetime trading volume. 



Shares of Bakkt surge over 230% on news that it will partner with Mastercard in rolling out crypto credit and debit cards. 



Digital asset investment products saw record inflows for the week ended on October 22 due to newly launched ETF&#8217;s. 



Solana and Chainlink posted the strongest gains today among major altcoins. 



<h3>Latest in Macro:</h3>



<ul><li>S&amp;P 500: 4,566, +.47%</li><li>NASDAQ: 15,226, +.90%</li><li>Gold: $1,807, +.87%</li><li>WTI Crude Oil: $83.71, -.66%</li><li>10-Year Treasury: 1.633%, -.022%</li></ul>



<h3>Latest in Crypto:</h3>



<ul><li>BTC: $62,985, +3.17%</li><li>ETH: $4,191, +3.84%</li><li>ETH/BTC: .0665, -.88%</li><li>BTC.D: 45.18%, +.45%</li></ul>



<h3>TVL in Crypto Continues its Growth</h3>



Total Value Locked (TVL) across all chains has reached all-time highs when denominated in US dollars. As of reporting, TVL sits at $247.09 billion, with Ethereum leading the way with a 66.51% market share. A breakdown of leading chains can be seen below, although the numbers were taken first thing this morning.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1012" height="506" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TVL.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-9848" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TVL.jpg?w=1012 1012w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TVL.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TVL.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TVL.jpg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TVL.jpg?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TVL.jpg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TVL.jpg?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1012px) 100vw, 1012px" /><figcaption>Source: DefiLlama</figcaption></figure>



The total number of DeFi users sits north of <a href="https://dune.xyz/rchen8/defi-users-over-time" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">3.631 million users</a>, which in the grand scheme of things is only scratching the surface of its total addressable market. Goldman Sachs released a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/goldman-sachs-defi-has-its-advantages-over-traditional-finance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> on Friday highlighting that DeFi has many advantages over traditional finance, but it remains a work in progress. 



&#8220;DeFi is easier to access for underbanked populations and provides faster settlements for users, but it’s still a work in progress with flaws like hacks, bugs and outright scams,&#8221; the report by Zach Pandl, co-head of foreign exchange strategy for Goldman Sachs Research, and Isabella Rosenberg, a foreign exchange analyst at Goldman Sachs, said.&nbsp;



Over the weekend, Uniswap (UNI), the most popular decentralized exchange built on top of Ethereum, crossed $500 billion of total volume traded since its launch in November of 2018. <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/uniswap/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UNI</a> was trading at $26.63, up 3.51% over the last 24 hours. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="546" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/uni-trading-volume-1-1024x546.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-9854" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/uni-trading-volume-1-1024x546.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/uni-trading-volume-1-1024x546.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/uni-trading-volume-1-1024x546.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/uni-trading-volume-1-1024x546.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/uni-trading-volume-1-1024x546.jpg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/uni-trading-volume-1-1024x546.jpg?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/uni-trading-volume-1-1024x546.jpg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/uni-trading-volume-1-1024x546.jpg?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/uni-trading-volume-1-1024x546.jpg?w=1967 1967w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Source: @Uniswap</figcaption></figure>



Every day more large companies are trying to integrate various crypto networks to avoid getting left behind. Some highlights from today include:



<ul><li>Citi CEO, Jane Fraser, says they are working on connecting clients to crypto wallets and enabling corporate clients to accept crypto for payments, Blockworks <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/citi-ceo-fraser-were-building-the-infrastructure-for-retail-real-time-payments/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a> earlier. </li><li>One River CEO, Eric Peters, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/one-river-ceo-eric-peters-crypto-is-most-interesting-macro-opportunity-and-investment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">calls</a> digital assets the most interesting macro opportunity and most disruptive technology he has seen in his career. </li><li>Mastercard <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/mastercard-to-offer-crypto-credit-debit-cards/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> plans to offer crypto credit and debit cards in a partnership with Bakkt, <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211025005487/en/Mastercard-and-Bakkt-Partner-to-Offer-Innovative-Crypto-and-Loyalty-Solutions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to a company press release.</li><li>Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, says that financial institutions have a &#8216;mandate&#8217; to invest in digital assets, Blockworks <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftxs-bankman-fried-financial-institutions-have-mandate-to-invest-in-digital-assets/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">previously</a> reported. </li></ul>



<h3>Bakkt Explodes</h3>



Shares of Bakkt, which trades on the NYSE under the ticker BKKT, surged over 230% during trading hours on the news. The yellow and blue shaded areas on the chart below represent pre-market and post-market trading activity. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="970" height="677" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BKKT_2021-10-25_16-41-16-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9856" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BKKT_2021-10-25_16-41-16-1.png?w=970 970w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BKKT_2021-10-25_16-41-16-1.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BKKT_2021-10-25_16-41-16-1.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BKKT_2021-10-25_16-41-16-1.png?w=368 368w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BKKT_2021-10-25_16-41-16-1.png?w=374 374w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BKKT_2021-10-25_16-41-16-1.png?w=314 314w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BKKT_2021-10-25_16-41-16-1.png?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px" /></figure>



<h4>Asset Flows Notch Record Inflows on ETF Approval Last Week</h4>



Digital asset investment products saw inflows of $1.47 billion last week, which represented the largest inflows on record by a long shot. 



&#8220;The record inflows were a direct result of the US Securities &amp; Exchange Commission allowing a Bitcoin ETF investing in futures and the consequent listing of two Bitcoin investment products with inflows totalling US$1.24bn.&#8221; <a href="https://coinshares.com/research/digital-asset-fund-flows" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to a CoinShares report. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="554" height="1024" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-4.49.47-PM-554x1024.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9858" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-4.49.47-PM-554x1024.png?w=554 554w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-4.49.47-PM-554x1024.png?w=162 162w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-4.49.47-PM-554x1024.png?w=139 139w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-4.49.47-PM-554x1024.png?w=141 141w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-4.49.47-PM-554x1024.png?w=118 118w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-4.49.47-PM-554x1024.png?w=43 43w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-4.49.47-PM-554x1024.png?w=674 674w" sizes="(max-width: 554px) 100vw, 554px" /><figcaption>Source: CoinShares</figcaption></figure></div>



<h3>Solana and Chainlink Outperform the Market</h3>



Solana (SOL) and Chainlink (LINK) were the top movers among major altcoins today, last trading at $211.73 and $32.49 respectively. 



<ul><li>Investment products related to SOL saw $8.1 million of inflows last week, the most among altcoin products, <a href="https://coinshares.com/research/digital-asset-fund-flows" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to a CoinShares report. </li><li>Chainlink, a blockchain abstraction layer that enables universally connected smart contracts through its network of oracles, is now live on the Terra testnet. This could be contributing to LINK&#8217;s bullish price action. </li><li>Solana hosted its <a href="https://ignition.devpost.com/project-gallery" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ignition</a> hackathon, an event that incentivizes builders to join their ecosystem, and saw a record number of project submittals. This implies that more projects are coming to Solana and could be the catalyst behind SOL&#8217;s rally. </li></ul>



The top altcoin movers can be seen below:



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="566" height="148" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.04.27-PM.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9862" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.04.27-PM.png?w=566 566w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.04.27-PM.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.04.27-PM.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.04.27-PM.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.04.27-PM.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.04.27-PM.png?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 566px) 100vw, 566px" /><figcaption>Source: laevitas.ch</figcaption></figure></div>



Solana now ranks <a href="https://defillama.com/chain/Solana" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">third</a> in TVL among major chains, with over $13.6 billion locked in smart contracts. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.07.38-PM-1024x356-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-9864"/><figcaption>Source: DefiLlama</figcaption></figure>



<h3>Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)</h3>



Trading data from <a href="https://opensea.io/rankings" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSea</a> and <a href="https://solanalysis.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Solanalysis</a> of some of the top Solana and Ethereum projects can be found in the photos below:



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="339" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.52-PM-1024x339.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9865" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.52-PM-1024x339.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.52-PM-1024x339.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.52-PM-1024x339.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.52-PM-1024x339.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.52-PM-1024x339.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.52-PM-1024x339.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.52-PM-1024x339.png?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.52-PM-1024x339.png?w=1229 1229w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Top Ethereum Projects</figcaption></figure></div>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="357" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.41-PM-1024x357.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9866" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.41-PM-1024x357.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.41-PM-1024x357.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.41-PM-1024x357.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.41-PM-1024x357.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.41-PM-1024x357.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.41-PM-1024x357.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.41-PM-1024x357.png?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-25-at-5.11.41-PM-1024x357.png?w=1039 1039w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Top Solana Projects </figcaption></figure></div>



That is all for today, folks. Looking forward to catching tomorrow! 



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



Are you a UK or EU reader that can&#8217;t get enough investor-focused content on digital assets? <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/das-london/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us</a>&nbsp;in London on November 15th and 16th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London. Use code ARTICLE for £75 off your ticket.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/das-london/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Buy it now</a>.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>

TVL Across All Chains Hits All-time High, SOL and LINK Outperform: Markets Wrap

<div id="highlights-block_614c607b4c4cc" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Filecoin is a decentralized data storage marketplace, which wants to provide a censorship-resistant data storage alternative to existing cloud services</li>
 <li>Wrapped Filecoin is a way to represent Filecoin’s $FIL token on the Ethereum blockchain, allowing it to be included in Ethereum DeFi.</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Last year, <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2020/11/10/gemini-exchange-building-wrapped-filecoin-for-the-ethereum-network/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gemini launched wrapped Filecoin</a>, allowing traders to commoditize the utility of the decentralized blockchain-based alternative to cloud storage on the Ethereum blockchain. Imagine getting exposure to storage as a commodity and being able to insert it into smart contracts, or otherwise utilize it within DeFi platforms, and you have <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/wrapped-crypto-tokens-and-why-theyre-critical-to-markets/">wrapped</a> Filecoin (traded as $EFIL). Filecoin lives on its own blockchain, and this is a way to bridge the gap and allow it to be used on Ethereum.&nbsp;



Now, Gemini has taken the next step into transforming $EFIL into a DeFi-grade commodity by integrating it within Chainlink’s Proof of Reserve (PoR). Via Chainlink, an oracle, DeFi platforms will be able to audit the reserves of the Filecoin tokens Gemini has wrapped and held in custody. The PoR data feed uses a Chainlink-powered oracle network to check the balances of Gemini’s custody wallet for FIL and push out an on-chain update if there’s a deviation in Gemini-held FIL balances that goes beyond a certain threshold.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/pWTefHZgZH_Rtycqcn0pGpfFOL8aYSpm9phzIHfMXDciyD8zCViDPg-ecYs95lN1EC1C0h3z5riT1cWTI1n-_GUE2U2P2RjQbJP34IceOGpCi0z8nEN_UYlFCwbVL3WcCtRtVe-u=s0" alt=""/><figcaption>Chainlink Proof of Reserve provides smart contracts proof regarding the amount of $EFIL in Gemini&#8217;s custody; Source: blog.chain.link</figcaption></figure>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“Tokenization enables cross-chain representation. It allows for the value inherent in this segmented utility to be represented in various markets where trading occurs, including DeFi. Interoperability will be of growing importance and will be satisfied by solutions like wrapped assets,” Matthew Werner, a Gemini Product Manager, told Blockworks. “As we see more of these types of base chains that provide native utility, there will be a broader spread of segregated assets.”</blockquote>



Gemini says that the intended goal is for $EFIL being a more reliable form of collateral and payment throughout DeFi and other smart contract verticals on Ethereum needing storage solutions.



Aside from DeFi traders, investor interest in Filecoin as an asset continues to grow. In March, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/grayscale-launches-five-new-digital-asset-trusts-said-investors-want-diversification/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Grayscale announced the launch</a> of a Filecoin closed-end fund.&nbsp; Currently, the fund has approximately $580 in assets under management, and is up nearly 30% since its inception.



According to publicly available stats, Filecoin has stored 27.9 Petabytes (1 million Gigabytes) of data. Some of this data would be NFTs, but as most NFTs are image files that are a few megabytes at most, it is not clear what else is in Filecoin miners’ virtual coffers. What is clear is that many of the <a href="https://filfox.info/en/ranks/power" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">miners are based in China</a>, which would call into question how ‘censorship resistant’ the storage network really is.



Filecoin’s native token $FIL was trading at $72.35, at the time of publication, up 3% in the past 24 hours according to <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/filecoin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CoinGecko</a>.



<hr class="wp-block-separator">
Are you a UK or EU reader that can’t get enough investor-focused content on digital assets?<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/das-london/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us</a>&nbsp;in London on November 15th and 16th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London. Use code ARTICLE for £75 off your ticket.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/das-london/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Buy it now</a>.
<hr class="wp-block-separator">

Gemini Expands Support For Wrapped Filecoin With Chainlink Proof of Reserves

In the latest episode of Blockworks’ podcast “<a href="https://youtu.be/k3cq7f43E74">Empire</a>,” Jason Yanowitz, co-founder of Blockworks, is joined by Sergey Nazarov, the co-founder of Chainlink, a decentralized oracle network provider for advanced smart contracts. 



Sergey and Jason discuss hybrid smart contracts, oracle networks, DeFi&#8217;s total addressable market, how current business models will be forced to adapt and the challenges of developing Chainlink.



They also discuss: 



<ul><li>Why DeFi is better than CeFi</li><li>If an inflection point has come</li></ul>



Check out what they had to say in the video below. 👇



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Sergey Nazarov reveals why $2 trillion will flow into DeFi | Chainlink" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k3cq7f43E74?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



On &#8220;Empire,&#8221; once a week, Jason interviews individuals that have built the crypto industry to talk about their struggles, bold moves and tough decisions. For any NPR or Guy Raz fans out there, you can think of &#8220;Empire&#8221; like a “How I Built This” for the bitcoin and crypto industry.



Episodes are released every Thursday morning.&nbsp;



Subscribe to Empire today on&nbsp;<a href="https://apple.co/389JSpL" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apple</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://spoti.fi/3uVnxpC" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spotify</a>. Watch episodes on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvER9nHSRN3wPkrDGTT5_8VC4Hjcq0f9U" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTube</a>.

Podcast: Chainlink Co-Founder on Why $2 Trillion Will Flow into DeFi

<div id="highlights-block_610b43eb663bc" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>DeFi relies on real-world data for smart contracts and that’s often validated through Chainlink, one of the world’s largest oracles </li>
 <li>Oracles, data gateways between the real world and the blockchain, are computationally intensive and require secure networks. Swisscom has both. </li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Swisscom, one of Switzerland’s largest telecommunications companies, announced today that it is joining oracle network Chainlink.&nbsp;



In the blockchain industry, oracles are third-party intermediaries that provide smart contracts and decentralized applications with real-world data that allows for contract execution. Chainlink is one of the market leaders in this space and aggregates price data from multiple oracles to produce what it calls a “consensus value”.



As manipulation of this data could lead to material changes on smart contracts, Chainlink requires a secure network in order to maintain data validity.&nbsp;



In an interview with Blockworks, Sergey Nazarov, the co-founder of Chainlink, explained that for Swisscom this is an <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/webinars/what-defi-means-for-crypto-market-structure/">infrastructure</a> play to get exposure to the decentralized finance (<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-defi/">DeFi</a>) space and broader blockchain industry without having to purchase mining equipment.



After all, Chainlink rewards network participants that can operate at scale and maintain a high level of uptime — something that Swisscom can do by virtue of being a telecom.



“Chainlink is a system that rewards highly reliable node operators,” Nazarov said.&nbsp; “[It allows telecoms to be a] winner doing the things they already do, which is providing high uptime and high security for infrastructure. That&#8217;s the distinction because our system doesn&#8217;t compensate people based on ownership of mining equipment or ownership of tokens.”



T-Systems, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, parent of T-Mobile, also runs Chainlink nodes. Both Swisscom and T-Systems are already large IT service providers for the financial industry in Switzerland and Europe.



Effectively, for the companies, this is the beginning of a shift to the era of decentralized finance by simply replicating what they offer to the traditional finance space.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Swisscom’s digital asset team sees no end in sight to the growth of decentralized financial applications, the company said in a statement.&nbsp;



Nazarov explained that this is a good matchup for telecoms as the Chainlink system doesn’t “compensate people based on ownership of mining equipment or ownership of tokens,” but rather creates a “virtuous cycle” of rewards for data that’s delivered securely.



“If you&#8217;re great at delivering reliable infrastructure, that&#8217;s the model if you want to participate in,” he said.  Chainlink, the twelfth biggest token by market cap, is currently trading at $23.04 down 4.1%, <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/chainlink">according to CoinGecko</a>.



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