T3rn: Reshaping the Oracle Landscape with its Innovative Approach
Maciej Baj, the founder and CTO of T3rn, recently spoke at Sub0 2023 about the world of oracles and how his company is revolutionizing the oracle landscape. T3rn’s unique approach offers oracle-like functionality without the need to rely on off-chain realms for data sourcing, providing a fresh perspective on the oracle problem.
Blockchain oracles are third-party services that bridge the gap between smart contracts and the real world, enabling them to execute based on inputs and outputs from external sources. They allow the decentralized Web3 ecosystem to access existing data sources, legacy systems, and perform advanced computations. Oracles are crucial for the creation of hybrid smart contracts, where on-chain code and off-chain infrastructure are combined to support decentralized applications (dApps) that interact with real-world events and traditional systems.
During the presentation, Maciej Baj provided an overview of the T3rn Protocol, emphasizing its ability to process orders from both Substrate-based networks and Ethereum. The protocol combines data from various sources to ensure the accuracy of information. T3rn’s incentive layers play a vital role in coordinating the routing and confirmation processes built on top of the protocol.
One key highlight of T3rn’s approach is the use of light clients, which monitor blockchain headers instead of storing entire transaction histories. This approach significantly improves efficiency and reduces storage requirements. Light clients check the headers to understand the consensus state of the network, making them highly efficient and storage-friendly. Maciej also discussed Ethereum’s committee consensus and Grandpa-based proofs for Polkadot, Kusama, and Rococo chains as examples of consensus mechanisms.
T3rn provides a universal interface that allows developers to access data verified by these light clients. This interface simplifies the process of building applications that require cross-chain data verification. Developers can now easily verify states, events, and transaction inclusions using the latest headers provided by T3rn’s light clients.
The presentation also included a pilot use case that focused on a cross-chain oracle for creating a price feed oracle that offers reliable data for various assets. T3rn’s approach ensures data reliability and confidence by integrating game theory and incentives within the protocol. Unlike traditional oracles that rely on trusted off-chain data sources, T3rn enables on-chain consensus verification, enhancing data integrity.
T3rn is actively exploring the possibility of subsidizing the cost of executing on Ethereum to enhance the cost-effectiveness of cross-chain operations. The company plans to gather gas price data from Ethereum transactions and use it to determine execution costs. This initiative aims to offer developers cost-efficient options for cross-chain execution while maintaining data reliability.
In conclusion, Maciej Baj’s presentation at Sub0 2023 gave insights into T3rn’s vision of cross-chain oracles as a reliable and efficient means of accessing data from various sources across multiple chains. Through the use of light clients and a universal interface, T3rn empowers developers to build trustless applications that can access and verify data without relying on centralized intermediaries, reshaping the oracle landscape for the better.
