Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volumes, launched its native oracle network, Binance Oracle, on Wednesday for its BNB chain ecosystem.
What is Binance Oracle?
“Binance Oracle is a blockchain oracle that enables smart contracts to access data sources in the real world required by blockchain applications. It ensures that smart contracts have the correct data at the right time,” reads a new page added on Binance Academy.
Oracles help collect real-world data, such as weather info and macroeconomic indicators, and share it with the blockchain.
Projects to begin testing
Binance Oracle is starting off with an early-bird program involving ten BNB projects. Some of these projects include lending platform Venus, yield farming protocol Alpaca Finance, and liquid staking solution Ankr. They have a TVL of $770 million, $510 million, and $101 million, respectively, according to data from DeFiLlama.
Plans to expand to other chains
Apart from these ten projects, the service is expected to benefit more than 1400 applications on the BNB Chain. Along with it, the plan is to eventually add support for more blockchains.
“Binance Oracle will emerge as a significant contributor to Web3 by offering a stable, reliable and efficient oracle network with comprehensive accuracy and accessibility features,” said Gwendolyn Regina, investment director at BNB Chain, in a statement.
Preventing future exploits
Binance envisions huge opportunities in the field of blockchain oracles and believes the sector can largely benefit from such services if data can be collected accurately. In fact, the lack of efficient oracles has led to multiple crypto hacks.
Solana-based lending platform Mango Networks was exploited for $100 million, and about $10 million was pilfered from Celo-based borrowing protocol Moola. In both cases, hackers were able to trick oracle-based lending mechanisms.
Meanwhile, Binance continues to expand into more crypto businesses. Earlier this month, it launched a $500 million fund to dispatch loans for the crypto mining industry.
