Chainlink launches staking to increase the security of oracle services

Blockchain oracle network Chainlink has launched its staking feature to help increase the economic security of the platform's oracle services. 

In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Chainlink mentioned that the new staking feature is an integral part of its “Chainlink Economics 2.0” efforts that focuses on security and sustainable growth.

Before the staking feature, Chainlink users who wanted to receive LINK token rewards needed to launch their own nodes. With the newly-launched staking mechanism, Chainlink (LINK) token holders have an additional earning mechanism as they aid in increasing the oracle platform’s security.

Initially, Chainlink Staking was launched as a v0.1 beta, which includes a staking pool that aims to secure the ETH/USD data feed within the Ethereum mainnet. This allows stakers to earn rewards for supporting the feed's performance by participating in a decentralized alerting system. The system flags the network when the Data Feed is not meeting performing requirements.

Sergey Nazarov, the co-founder of Chainlink, said that this launch is the foundation for Chainlink Economics 2.0 and will eventually improve. “As the network continues to expand, Chainlink Staking will continue to evolve and deliver enhanced security across our ecosystem and throughout Web3,” he said.

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According to the Chainlink team, as the platform continuously releases new oracle services throughout various blockchains, the security of the network must match the increasing value secured within applications powered by Chainlink. Nazarov explained that:

“The Chainlink network has successfully scaled to support a significant and growing portion of DeFi and many other new smart contract verticals, enabling more than $6.6 trillion in transaction value this year.”

On Nov. 29, the LINK token rallied days ahead of the staking feature launch, suggesting that traders anticipate that the staking launch will boost the demand for LINK tokens and the platform’s oracle services.