Rise of an ecosystem called ChainLink





We all are increasingly being aware of crypto currency and are adjusting to the prospects of it being a more integrated part of our daily life. Here its important to understand, that it’s BLOCKCHAIN that is more crucial than the coin that operates on it. In the near future blockchain will be more ubiquitous than what it is today.

There is no universal definition of Blockchain, though there is one that is most agreed upon. BlockChain is a distributed ledger technology. It’s an open ledger that allows data to be stored on multiple servers. And cryptocurrency is a digital currency which runs on peer-to-peer platform and does not need a intermediary or central agency like banks or central bank. It instead works on public ledger known as "Blockchain". In simple terms, blockchain is the platform on which digital currencies operate.



Now the next question is, how to connect blockchain to the outer world?

This brings us to my today’s topic....Chainlink and LINK. I’m discussing this as an investment option. And the probable reason behind recent price movement of LINK.

(By now you must have realized that this blog is not a IT one....I would like to present the concept in a very simple and non-technical way. Hence read further only if interested in understanding technical stuff "non-technically" 😀)





This is how the world operates.... each sector has various payments and data exchanges taking place on it’s own blockchain platform. But the data that needs to be collected from outside their own environment, needs manual intervention. Chainlink is going to replace that manual interference.

What is Chainlink?

When we have to travel long distance, we need a airplane... but to board that airplane we need airport.

So bitcoin is the airplane and blockchain is the airport.....

Now a more logistical question. How to reach the airport??

Chainlink is the Uber that you take to reach blockchain airport to board bitcoin (or any other coin) airplane.

With that simple basic in mind, let’s read some technical stuff....

ChainLink is blockchain middleware that allows smart contracts to access key off-chain resources like data feeds, various web APIs, and traditional bank account payments. It’s a decentralized oracle service.

With ChainLink, smart contract users can use the network’s oracles to retrieve data from off-chain application program and integrate them into the blockchain. It resides on Ethereum blockchain.

Smart contracts are applications that execute on decentralized infrastructure, such as blockchain. And new functionality, called an oracle, provides connectivity to the outside world.

ChainLink is a bridge between on-chain and off-chain environments.

What is LINK?

In my above example of airport....When you’ll reach the airport using Uber....you’ll be required to pay...now if you have an account with Uber you can pay them in the form of some points that you collected through your various rides.....in Chainlink...that token coin is called Link.

LINK is the token of the Chainlink ecosystem. The token is used to pay node operators for the retrieval of data from off-chain data feeds, formatting data into blockchain readable formats, off-chain computation, and uptime guarantees.

Why should you and me bother about Chainlink or Link???





In the future, making and receive payments, using GPS to find location, claiming insurance at the doctors office, booking tickets, etc. are just few of the things that are going to use ChainLink. So it makes sense to understand the bus we are going to ride. However, today I’m looking at LINKS only as an investment option.

Have a look at the price movement of Link.....from the lows of $0.126297 on Sep 23, 2017, prices shoot to $4.83 on Feb 16, 2020.





In span of 2 years this kind of sharp rise indicates towards two reasons:

1. Direct and indirect demand

Real investors look at it as a solid investment as they understand the changing technology space. If the concept of digital currency, blockchain and smart oracles are here to stay...integrating network like Chainlink are indispensable. Institutional demand like Insurance sector demand, is definitely a major pull for the price of Link.





There are over 10 million smart contracts that are expected to be in billions by 2023. Automation and data mining are going to create indirect demand for Chainlink and smart investors are reading this tread pretty clearly.

2. Speculation

Any kind of asset which sees a sudden rise in it’s price almost always will have some kind of foul play. Speculation and pump-and-dump could also be the reason behind this spike. Chainlink is the prominent player in the smart contracts. Increase in artificial demand by some coordinated players can spike the prices and in case of tokens it is comparatively easier than the stock market as these assets are yet not government regulated and the number of players holding these tokens at a large scale is very limited. Hence, its easy to behave in an oligopoly manner.

I’m a small investor, still I don’t hesitate and place my bets on relatively newer concepts. Now it’s time, you chose your dark horse.



