This is a time to celebrate, another milestone in the blockchain world has us hungry for more.

Alpha Vantage has become the first cloud-based financial data API company on the blockchain with an official chainlink node — catapulting the blockchain development scene into a gold-mine of untapped potential.

And if you were like us a month ago, this was all just a bunch of gibberish.

So what’s the fuss about? Let’s quickly recap on blockchain first, it is not as far-fetched as we all once thought…

Blockchain technology

The blockchain is an “immutable incorruptible decentralized transparent digital ledger” which means (in English):

No one individual has sole power over the system (decentralized)

It cannot be tampered with (immutable and incorruptible)

Everyone can see every transaction that has happened (transparent digital ledger)

This gives the power to no big government or company. It lets everyone have just as much authority as the next and proves you own something. To quote CryptoManiaks.

It proves you own something digital. You own 1 Bitcoin. You own digital copies of your health records. You own your vote.

Bitcoin and blockchain are sometimes used interchangeably, but it is important to emphasize that Bitcoin is not blockchain, it was just built on the blockchain.

2. Chainlink

Previously, data outside the blockchain could not be integrated into the blockchain. Meaning, if you wanted to build a stock or FX exchange on the blockchain (which would be a public exchange where everyone could see EVERY TRADE, a HUGE jump in the democratization of data), you would be unable to since you it would be impossible to get price data…

Chainlink to the rescue.

Chainlink is consistently selected as one of the top blockchain technologies by leading independent research firms such as Gartner. It is well known for providing highly secure and reliable “oracles” (a chainlink term for those who don’t know) to large enterprises (Google, Oracle, and SWIFT) and leading smart contract development teams.

What’s an oracle? These are what allows external data to be placed on the blockchain.

They are also some of the nicest people we have encountered, with a vision for the world's applications to be built on the blockchain.

3. Alpha Vantage

At Alpha Vantage, our vision that data is for everyone. We quest for all things open-source, the democratization of data, and leveling the playing field. In everything we do, we aim to push boundaries and set new standards.

Integrating with Chainlink allows us to do just that. Their vision, security, and simplicity made it easy for us to integrate on their platform. Now that we have combined forces, the possibilities for applications are endless.

A truly transparent stock exchange

Immutable historical data forever moving forward

No more “curtain” that shadows the financial world

Or even…. more decentralized synthetic assets… see Synthetix

Want to learn more? Interested in seeing how it all works? We just wrote a post on how to build your first application!

Follow Alpha Vantage on Medium and see the tutorials that are coming out soon, with content such as; more in-depth Alpha Vantage-Chainlink documentation, how to build a node yourself, and solidity competitions (“solidity” is a programming language for smart contracts). As well as our non-blockchain related content! You can reach us also on slack, twitter, or discord.

Learn more about Chainlink by visiting the Chainlink website, Twitter or Telegram. If you’re a developer, visit the developer documentation or join the technical discussion on Discord.