Chainlink的起源故事：从2017年的代币销售到加密世界的基石

Chainlink's origin and core mission

Chainlink's history dates back to September 2017. At the time, founders Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis completed a $32 million LINK token sale to fund the construction of a decentralized Oracle network. Today, nine years later, the network provides price data and cross-chain messaging services to decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, stablecoin issuers, and traditional financial institutions. According to Chainlink official data, its Cross-Chain Interoperability Agreement (CCIP) has guaranteed the value of more than US$84 billion in cross-chain tokens.

The core problem solved: the oracle problem

The blockchain itself cannot read information outside its network. As a program running on the blockchain, smart contracts cannot query external data such as stock prices or interest rates on their own. This limitation is known as the "oracle problem." Oracle is a service that brings external data into the blockchain.

Relying on only a single oracle source leads to the risk of a single point of failure. Once the data from that source is erroneous or tampered with, all contracts that rely on that data will perform operations based on the error information. For example, in lending applications, wrong price data can trigger mandatory clearing that should not have occurred. Chainlink's solution is to avoid relying on a single data source, but instead have a set of independent node operators obtain the data separately and merge the results into a final value provided to the smart contract, thereby ensuring the accuracy and tamper-resistant nature of the data.

Team background and predecessor project

Chainlink originated from an earlier company. Nazarov and Ellis co-founded SmartContract.com in September 2014, which is dedicated to connecting smart contracts with external data and payment systems. Nazarov graduated from New York University in 2007 with a degree in philosophy and management. He worked at venture capital firm FirstMark Capital and later entered the cryptocurrency field.

On September 4, 2017, the two joined forces with Ari Juels, professor of computer science science at Cornell Institute of Technology, to release the Chainlink white paper. The paper proposes replacing a single data provider with a network of independent oracles. Juels 'research also continues to be integrated into the project: in 2018, Chainlink integrated the Town Crier oracle system in which Juels participated (relying on trusted hardware); in 2020, it acquired Cornell University's DECO project, which uses zero-knowledge proof technology to allow verification of the authenticity of facts without revealing underlying data (such as date of birth).

Details of the 2017 CZK Sale

According to public records, this sale is divided into two stages: pre-sales opened on July 21, 2017, followed by public sales on September 19 and 20. Most of the funds come from pre-sales.

• Total supply: 1 billion LINK, with a fixed cap
• Investor subscriptions: 350 million LINK, accounting for 35% of total supply
• Funding raised: US$32 million (approximately 29 million from pre-sales, 3 million from public sales)
• Token price: It is approximately US$0.09 during pre-sales and approximately US$0.11 during public sales.
• Remaining allocation: 35% is reserved for ecosystem rewards, and 30% is reserved for the team.

The current transaction price of LINK is US$12.88, which is more than 100 times higher than the public sales price.

How Chainlink networks work

When a smart contract requests certain data (such as the dollar price of Ethereum), multiple independent node operators will obtain the data separately. The network aggregates these answers into a single number and delivers them to the contract, ensuring that no single operator can determine the final outcome.

Economic model of LINK token

Payment function: Users pay LINK to purchase data and other services provided by node operators.

Pledge mechanism: Node operators need to lock LINK as collateral. If inaccurate data is provided, you will face a "Slashing" penalty, in which part or all of your collateral is confiscated.

Reserve mechanism: Income received in the form of other assets will be converted to LINK and held on the chain.

The pledge function will be launched in stages: version 0.1 will be launched in December 2022, with a limit of 25 million LINKS; version 0.2 will be launched on November 28, 2023, increasing the limit to 45 million LINKS.

Main products built based on the network

• Data feeds and data streams: provides price data for cryptocurrencies, commodities and tokenized real-world assets.
• Proof of Reserve: Verify that the token is fully backed by its claimed assets.
• Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP): Enables token and information transfer between public and private blockchains.
• Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE): A platform launched in November 2025 for organizations to build tokenized asset workflows.
• Automated compliance engine: Embedding rules such as authentication into smart contracts.

Expansion from DeFi to traditional finance

The main network was launched on Ethereum on May 30, 2019, and DeFi lending and transaction applications became its first large-scale user group. For example, loan agreement Aave has been using Chainlink for more than six years. Subsequently, banks and market infrastructure companies began to gradually connect. Key milestones include:

• 2020: launches proof of reserve feature.
• April 2021: released Chainlink 2.0 white paper, planning for pledge and broader oracle services.
• 2023:CCIP is officially launched. In August of the same year, Swift reported the experimental use of CCIP to transfer tokenized assets between public and private blockchains.
• November 2024:Swift, UBS Asset Management and Chainlink settle subscriptions and redemptions of tokenized funds on the Swift network.
• 2025: The U.S. Department of Commerce uses Chainlink to publish economic data on blockchain. JPMorgan's Kinexys and Ondo Finance used CRE to complete cross-chain payment transactions.
• October 31, 2025: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Central Bank of Brazil launched a cross-border trade finance pilot through Chainlink.

Major changes in 2026

According to Chainlink's quarterly review, the first quarter ushered in multiple changes at the regulatory and market levels:

• February 9:CME Group listed LINK futures, with 5,000 LINK for standard contracts and 500 LINK for micro contracts.
• February: Nazarov was appointed to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Innovation Advisory Committee.
• March 17: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the CFTC issued a joint interpretation classifying LINK as a digital commodity rather than a security.
• CCIP growth: Transfer volume increased by 78% month-on-month and 319% year-on-year.
• Tokenized funds: The fund jointly launched by Amundi and Spiko exceeded US$400 million in assets in three weeks.

Latest product release

Since late September, Chainlink has issued four important announcements:

• September 22:reached an agreement with Infosys to explore building blockchain infrastructure for financial institutions (no official launch has been announced).
• September 28: launches CCIP 2.0, adding user attestations, configurable final confirmation speeds and built-in compliance features.
• September 30: released Fulcrum, a cross-chain repurchase tool, to be demonstrated with DTCC at Sibos 2026. Repurchase is a short-term loan backed by collateral, and Fulcrum does not hold assets or act as a counterparty.
• October 8: launches CCIP Vault Adapters, allowing users to deposit into vaults from more than 80 blockchains in one step. Aave, Lombard, Maple, Veda and Venus are all early adopters.

Chainlink stated that in the four months leading up to the release of version 2.0, more than US$15 billion in token value was transferred through CCIP. These include BitGo's WBTC, Coinbase's cbBTC, Kraken's kBTC and Wyoming's FRNT stablecoin. In addition, Open Standard has also designated Chainlink as its official data oracle for the Open USD stablecoin.

How network revenue affects LINK tokens

Chainlink Reserve was launched on August 7, 2025, a smart contract on Ethereum used to hold LINK. The system called "Payment Abstraction" allows customers to make payments using stablecoins or other tokens, which are then converted to LINK.

Chainlink pointed out at the time that demand created "hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue," mainly from off-chain payments made by large companies. At the same time, it said that it does not expect to withdraw funds from reserves for many years. At the end of the first quarter, reserves held 3.06 million LINKS; by early October, that number had increased to approximately 6.12 million LINKS, valued at nearly $88.8 million (reported by The Crypto Times). This accounts for less than 1% of the circulation supply.

Gopal Solanky of The Crypto Times points out that many CCIP transfers cost less than two dollars, so huge custody value does not mean huge revenue. In addition, LINK holders have no contractual claim for fees.

Competitor analysis

Other oracle networks include Pyth Network, RedStone, and Chronicle. Pyth uses a "pull" model, where applications only request prices when needed, while Chainlink's raw data feed uses a "push" model, predicting opportunities to regularly publish updates to the chain. However, Chainlink's Data Streams product also uses a pull model.

Conclusion

Chainlink将3200万美元的代币发售转化为一个能够提供价格数据、验证储备金并在区块链间移动代币的网络。它不仅服务于DeFi应用和稳定币发行商，还参与了Swift的试点项目以及DTCC的Fulcrum演示。在美国，LINK被归类为数字商品，并在CME拥有期货合约。尽管目前价格为12.88美元，但仍远低于2021年的峰值水平。