Crypto Academy Season 3 | Intermediate course by @allbert –week 7: Blockchain Oracle

Greetings crypto lovers, I'm glad to be back again with my homework task for professor @allbert . This week, which is week 7 , professor @allbert gave a lecture on blockchain oracle and to be candid this is my first time of hearing about it and I'm glad it was well explain and detailed. Thanks you professor.
In the homework task professor Albert asked us to give a detailed and well explained blockchain oracle other than chain link and in my post,I will be giving a detailed explanation about Tellor blockchain oracle but before I proceed I will like to explain what blockchakm oracle is.

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Blockchain Oracle

Blockchain oracle act as the middle man between blockchain and the real world. Blockchain and the real world operates in a different way, let's me say two countries that speak different languages but needs to communicate with each other, their will be need for an interpreter right? That's exactly the role of blockchain oracle. It's the one interpreting what's happening in the outside world to the blockchain technology because on its own blockchain technology cants understand it. For example if everyone was to understand the computer language before they can operate it then the computer will not be for the lay man, but the manufacturers ensure to have a middle man between the computer and the consumers which easy transfer information to both side in a way they both understand which makes it possible for almost everybody to operate it.

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Types of Oracle

Blockchain oracle have different types based on what they are used for or the specifics they have, the types includes :

• inbound oracles
• outbound oracles
• software oracles
• hardware oracles
• centralized oracles
• decentralized oracles

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Question 1- History and Description. Does it have any token or cryptocurrency associated? Explain.

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There are different examples of blockchain oracles which includes chainlink, band protocol, DIA, tellor, API3 and so on but for the sake of the post I will be talking about Tellor blockchain oracle.

Tellor (TRB)

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Tellor was founded by these three amazing team that reside in United States of America, Nicholas Fett, Brenda Loya, and Michael Zemrose. Their journey started in 2018 but Tellor was officially launched in 2019.
Tellor oracle is a perfect example of a decentralized type of blockchain oracle, it's an Ethereume based oracle. Tellor oracle works by creating a network system where miners compete to get information from off-chain to on-chain for those that need that information. Lets say smart contacts needs the price of a particular coin, the miners on tellor oracle will check for the price and tellor oracle will pick the first five and calculate the median value. The miners are reward with tellor token.

Tellor Token (TRB)

Tellor oracle also have a token known as tellor token and it's the token that powered the tellor oracle. It's used as reward for the miner. Tellor token is used to asked for information of things they want to know from the outside world (off-chain) on the oracle and the miners pick up the query or information to solve the problem so as to be paid in tellor token.
More information about the token can be seen in the screenshot below.

Source

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Question 2: Functionalities and Real-life Applications

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I will like to explain the functionalities of tellor oracle the way I understand it.
We already know that tellor oracle is a decentralized blockchain oracle from my explanation above. Tellor oracle operate by the use of miners to get information from off-chain to the on-chain. The miners are the ones that go about to get information needed from the real world to the blockchain. Let's say there is a need to know the price of BTC/USD , this particular request is made with an attractive price tag on it, the price tag been tellor token, the miners see this and go to action to look for the answer or to solve this particular quest. The system which is the tellor oracle picks the first five miners price and use the average to determine the price. The first five miners to show proof of work are rewarded 50 percent of the price tag offer made and the other 50% is burnt. It takes about 5 minutes to get solution to any question asked or query solved to be on the blockchain technology.

You may like to ask how does the system ensure that invalid information are not reported by the miners?
The system operates in such a way that before anyone can be miner, you have to stake at least 500 tellor token and if a miner solve or problem or provide answer to a question and this answer was challenged to be invalid or wrong and the challenger won, that particular miner is at risk to loose it's stake, this in a way ensure to keep the miners in check.
Below is an image that explain how the tellor oracle network works.

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Question 3: Pros and Cons of Tellor Network

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Pros of Tellor Network

• the interface it made very easy to use and easy to access, it's user friendly.

• tellor always provide it's data properly even when the ethereume network is under stress as the tellor oracle is built on ethereume network.

• it has its own coin and it's of high value which make the competition so high among the miners to be on top of their game and so solve query very fast and with accuracy

• tellor network is open to work with anyone as long as they meet they minimum smart contact requirements

• tellors network ensure that all the miners stake at least 500 tellor to ensure accuracy in data given as invalid or wrong data leads to the miner loosing the stake.

• the decentralized nature helps for anyone to submit proposal and if they get a favorable votes, the project can be run on the tellor network.

Cons of Tellor Network

• the whales have more power over the voting system

• the value of the coin affect the platform. If the value of the coin decrease so will the value of the platform

• it's take a lot of time to solve problems.

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Question 4: Future Developments and New Projects

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The tellor network team are really doing their best to improve the system and keep working hard to create a better platform for all users. This year February, the team launched a project called Zero Knowledge Submission with the aim to reduce gas fees. The project has been implemented and gas fees reduced and also while implementing this project the contract address was changed.
Below is a screenshot of the announcement made by tellor team in February this year.

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Tellor team also announced in June about a new project called tellor x and a new whitepapper was released.

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but is now announcing our plans for exciting changes including a novel monetary policy, more equitable governance, and the removal of the proof of work component; creating a broader, more accessible, and ultimately, more secure network of oracle data reporters. ^source

The tellor x project is an upgrade system majorly to tackle the limitations they have in the other system they have been running with.

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Conclusion

The need for blockchain oracle cannot be overemphasized, without the blockchain oracle the blockchain technology is blind and can't see the real world. Tellor network is one of the example of blockchain oracle that is doing a great job and doing it's best to eliminate it's limitations.

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