Oracle networks
An oracle network is a group of computer operators that supplies outside information to a blockchain. It collects data such as prices and makes it available to smart contracts, programs that execute agreed rules on that blockchain. This lets a program use information that its own transaction record cannot provide.
The service is useful when an automated decision depends on a changing fact, such as the market value of an asset. The network's design determines which sources it uses and how operators resolve conflicting readings. Checking data quality and update timing matters because a contract can execute its rules correctly while relying on an incorrect value.
Why finance needs oracle networks
A smart contract cannot call a web API or read a bank's system directly, because every node on the blockchain has to reach the same result from the same input, and an outside API can answer two nodes two different ways. Chainlink describes the resulting gap as the limit that smart contracts "cannot natively interact with data and systems outside the blockchain on which they're deployed in a secure and reliable manner." An oracle network closes that gap: its nodes fetch a value from several sources, agree on one figure, sign it and write it to the blockchain in a transaction, so every node reads the same value from then on. For a tokenized fund, that value is typically the net asset value the fund administrator calculates. What is a blockchain oracle? covers the mechanics in full, including push and pull oracle designs. A market data feed moves in the opposite direction: Dune Market Data Feeds read trades that already settled on decentralized exchanges and stream them into the systems of subscribers, without writing any value to a blockchain.
Oracle networks used in finance today
Chainlink, Pyth and RedStone are oracle networks active in finance. Securitize chose RedStone to price three tokenized funds onchain: the USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund of BlackRock, the Diversified Credit Securitize Fund of Apollo and the Senior Credit Opportunities Fund of Hamilton Lane, with lending protocols Compound, Morpho and Spark named as users of the feeds (The Block, 12 March 2025). Fidelity International uses Chainlink to publish net asset value data for tokenized funds. In Frankfurt, Deutsche Börse Market Data + Services announced on 1 October 2025 that it publishes real-time data from the trading venues Xetra, Eurex, 360T and Tradegate onchain through the Chainlink DataLink service, so smart contracts on more than 40 blockchains can read the figures (Deutsche Börse, 1 October 2025).
Manipulated price feeds
When an oracle network reports a wrong price, every contract that reads it acts on that wrong price. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission's case against a trader in the Mango Markets protocol shows the scale a manipulated feed can reach: on 11 October 2022, the trader bought large amounts of a thinly traded token on the exchanges that fed the oracle, pushed the reported price up more than 13-fold within 30 minutes, then borrowed against his inflated position and withdrew over 110 million dollars. The CFTC called it its first case of a scheme "that is sometimes called 'oracle manipulation'" (CFTC, release 8647-23). A risk manager reviewing a protocol asks how many independent sources feed its oracle and how much money would move the price on those sources.
Upcoming crypto and blockchain events in Germany
Finance Loop and oracle networks
On 15 April 2024, Finance Loop, Chainlink and TechQuartier invited guests to a Chainlink panel at TechQuartier in Frankfurt, a pre-event of the Crypto Assets Conference 2024, opening with the decentralized oracle networks of Chainlink for smart contracts. Related pages: crypto market data, DeFi investing and onchain finance.
Investment & Digital Assets
Risk & Compliance
What is the difference between an oracle and an oracle network?
A single oracle is one source writing data to a blockchain, which puts all trust in that one party. An oracle network uses several independent nodes and data sources, agreeing on a value before it is written, so one failed or dishonest node does not change the reported figure.
Do oracle networks need a MiCA license?
No specific license names oracle networks. MiCA's Article 3(1)(16) lists ten crypto-asset services that need authorization, from custody to transfer services, and the delivery of data to smart contracts is not among them. A bank or asset manager that buys data from an oracle network is still bound by its own MiCA and DORA duties for the service it receives.
Which oracle networks does traditional finance use?
Chainlink, Pyth and RedStone all serve financial institutions. Deutsche Börse Market Data + Services publishes exchange data onchain through Chainlink, Fidelity International uses Chainlink for tokenized fund pricing, and Securitize chose RedStone to price BlackRock's, Apollo's and Hamilton Lane's tokenized funds.
Crypto infrastructure and DeFi
Oracle networks and Finance Loop
Finance Loop, Chainlink and TechQuartier held a panel on decentralized oracle networks for smart contracts in Frankfurt, a pre-event of the Crypto Assets Conference 2024. Oracle networks sit in the Investment & Digital Assets track of Finance Loop, as part of the infrastructure behind tokenized funds and DeFi protocols.
Finance Loop is a professional network supporting the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.