The oracle is both a connection and a pollution; it is both a breakthrough and the starting point of a crisis.
Written by: 0xhhh
I. Introduction: The Blind Spot of Trust
Blockchain is a revolution about trust, but its trust is closed.
It trusts mathematics but does not trust the world.
Early blockchains were like a logician: they firmly believed in reasoning but rejected perception.
Bitcoin trusts hashes, not people; Ethereum trusts code, not inputs.
Thus, when a contract wants to ask, "What is the price of ETH?", it falls into silence.
This is not a technical flaw but a philosophical boundary.
The certainty of blockchain comes from its severance from the external world.
The source of trust is isolation.
But without connection, there is no meaning.
The history of humanity building trust systems is a process of continuously allowing the "system" to see the "reality" again.
The oracle is the first hand reaching out from this crack.
It is both a connection and a pollution;
It is both a breakthrough and the starting point of a crisis.
II. Phase One: The Crack of the Cave (2015–2018)
Background: The Island of Closed Intelligence
In 2015, Ethereum brought "code is law" to the world.
But law requires evidence, and there are no "external facts" on the blockchain.
A contract "based on weather compensation" cannot know if it is raining today;
A synthetic asset "tracking stock prices" cannot see Nasdaq.
Smart contracts became prisoners in Plato's cave, only able to gaze at shadows on the chain.
The purity of blockchain also became its shackle.
Problem: How to "See" Without Being Polluted
How can we let the blockchain see the external world without being polluted by it?
Trusting external data means introducing subjectivity and centralization, while the purpose of blockchain's existence is to eliminate both.
Thus, "trusted input" became the first paradox of decentralized trust systems.
Technological Evolution
Oraclize (Provable): Proves that data indeed comes from a specific source through TLSNotary.
Town Crier (Cornell): Uses Intel SGX trusted execution environment for secure data reading.
Chainlink (2017): Proposed a decentralized oracle network where nodes stake LINK, aggregate data, and form weighted consensus.
The First Breath of Trust
Blockchain makes trust logical; the oracle makes trust tangible.
For the first time, machines learn to "believe," and humans begin to define truth with algorithms.
III. Phase Two: The Market of Truth (2019–2021)
Background: The Trust Famine of DeFi
The explosion of DeFi made price feeds the lifeline of the system.
Liquidations, derivatives, stablecoins, and synthetic assets all rely on external prices.
But once price manipulation occurs, it can trigger a chain reaction.
Truth becomes an arbitrageable resource.
Technological Evolution
Tellor (TRB): Generates truth through a staking and questioning mechanism in a game.
UMA (Optimistic Oracle): Defaults to trust until questioned.
Kleros (PNK): Decentralized jury adjudicates factual disputes.
Band Protocol / DIA: Introduces an API layer compromise to balance speed and credibility.
The Era of Trust as a Game
Tellor makes truth a game equilibrium,
UMA makes truth the default state,
Kleros makes truth a social contract.
Trust is no longer a list but the result of a game.
Truth is "marketized" for the first time.
IV. Phase Three: The War of Time (2021–2023)
Background: The Delay Crisis of Truth
In the era of high-frequency trading and liquidation, delay is risk.
When truth is slower than lies, the system will punish the truth.
Technological Evolution
Pyth Network (PYTH): Directly signed quotes from exchanges, with the source being the node.
RedStone (RED): Pulls price feeds on demand, executing and verifying simultaneously.
API3: First-party oracle, where the data source signs and publishes itself.
Band Protocol: Implements cross-chain data layers on Cosmos.
When Time Becomes the Shape of Truth
Trust shifts from "correct" to "timely."
The oracle becomes the "arbiter of time."
Delay becomes a new dimension of trust.
🔹 Trust Begins to Have a Price: The Awakening of OEV (2023–2024)
OEV (Oracle Extractable Value)
—— The arbitrage gap between truth and time.
The moment of price update is not just an information event but a value event.
The order of truth dissemination begins to determine the distribution of wealth.
The question is no longer "Is it true?" but "Who benefits from the truth?"
Technological and Mechanism Evolution
Chainlink OEV Network (2024): Creates an OEV auction market where priority update rights can be bid on.
Pyth / SEDA: Mitigates internal arbitrage through timestamp signatures and random committees.
RedStone Pull Model: Naturally eliminates time differences, leaving no arbitrage window.
Truth Begins to Be Valued
OEV gives trust economic weight.
In the past, we discussed "who is telling the truth,"
Now we discuss "who profits from the truth."
Trust expands from fact verification to value governance.
V. Phase Four: The Collision of Intelligence and Privacy (2023–2025)
Background: AI Enters the Trust System
AI models can judge markets and analyze news, but their "truth" cannot be verified.
When machines begin to judge truth, how do we judge machines?
Technological Evolution
Oraichain (ORAI): Verifiable AI reasoning (Proof of Execution).
Phala / iExec: Generates remote proofs using TEE trusted hardware.
SEDA / Supra / Entangle: Integrates AI verification with cross-chain synchronization.
Rational Verification
When we require machines to prove their rationality,
The oracle shifts from "verifying the world" to "verifying intelligence."
Trust expands to the judgment layer.
VI. Phase Five: Rebuilding Trust in the Age of Agents (2025 →)
Background: The Rise of AI Agents
AI Agents now possess economic behavior capabilities.
They sign contracts, negotiate collaborations, and execute transactions.
But algorithms have no morals, only inputs.
When agents trade with each other, who guarantees that they see the same world?
Technological Evolution
Sora Oracle (SORA): AI Oracle + payment protocol + prediction market, forming a cognitive self-correction system.
Flux / OptionRoom: Embeds prediction markets for fact verification.
Orochi Network: Builds a machine identity system, making judgments traceable.
The Reconstruction of Trust
When agents become social subjects,
Humans shift from "trust bearers" to "trust designers."
Trust between machines is not emotional but contractual.
The oracle transforms from a data interface into a structure of civilization.
VII. Epilogue: From Data Bridge to Intelligent Trust Layer
A decade of evolution, each upgrade of the oracle
Originates from a trust crisis and opens up new boundaries.
Blockchain makes trust computable; the oracle makes reality computable; AI oracle makes intelligence computable.
The oracle is no longer just a bridge,
But the trust layer of intelligent civilization.
In conclusion
If blockchain is the memory layer of civilization, the oracle is the sensory layer of civilization.
We are teaching machines something unprecedented:
How to perceive honestly.
When the intelligent society truly arrives, the oracle will not just transmit data but will transmit the form of truth.
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