{
  "url": "https://blockindex.ai/coin/link",
  "name": "Chainlink",
  "links": {
    "github": "https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink",
    "website": "https://chain.link/",
    "whitepaper": "https://chain.link/whitepaper"
  },
  "dScore": 34,
  "market": {
    "priceUsd": 7.878724877677941,
    "marketCapUsd": 5728620625.550658,
    "volume24hUsd": 251483151.5500925,
    "priceChange7dPct": 0.56271193,
    "priceChange24hPct": -0.71248405
  },
  "source": "BlockIndex.AI",
  "supply": {
    "max": 1000000000,
    "circulating": 727099970.4255477,
    "circulatingPct": 72.70999704255478
  },
  "ticker": "LINK",
  "founder": "Sergey Nazarov, Steve Ellis",
  "vcFunded": false,
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-19T06:00:38.805111+00:00",
  "fairLaunch": false,
  "launchYear": 2017,
  "description": "Chainlink is the industry-standard decentralized oracle and middleware platform that enables smart contracts to reliably access off-chain data, external APIs, and institutional systems. Founded in 2017 by Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis, Chainlink was launched with an ERC-20 token (LINK) used to pay node operators and align economic incentives across a decentralized oracle network. Over the years the project has grown into a broad product family — including Price Feeds, Data Streams, VRF, Proof of Reserve, CCIP (Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol), Transporter, DataLink, the Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE), and Chainlink Reserve — that together provide low-latency pricing, verifiable randomness, cross-chain messaging, and institutional data publishing. Chainlink positions itself as neutral infrastructure bridging onchain contracts with offchain reality, and its partnerships with major DeFi protocols and institutions articulate a product-led adoption approach.\n\nTechnically, Chainlink is chain-agnostic: the LINK token is an ERC-20 on Ethereum while the oracle services (Decentralized Oracle Networks, or DONs) run as a network of independent node operators that anchor services to multiple blockchains. Chainlink’s architecture emphasizes modularity — oracles, aggregators, reputation and staking, and cross-chain routing (CCIP) can be composed depending on the use case. The protocol includes onchain and offchain components: verifiable off-chain computation and aggregation, cryptographic proofs such as VRF for randomness, and staking/reputation systems that are being rolled out to economically secure data availability and oracle accuracy. Chainlink's code is verified on Etherscan for its token contract; node software and other components are documented in product pages and developer docs.\n\nChainlink’s product set targets a wide set of use cases: DeFi price feeds and composable market data for lending, derivatives and AMMs; oracle services for gaming and NFTs (via VRF); proofs of reserves and attestation services for tokenized assets and stablecoins; cross-chain messaging and asset movement via CCIP and Transporter; and institutional workflows through CRE and DataLink. These services are adopted by major DeFi protocols, exchanges, and select enterprise partners, and they underpin use cases ranging from simple price lookups to complex cross-chain settlement workflows. Chainlink has also pursued monetization and sustainability via staking (v0.1 and v0.2) and the Chainlink Reserve, which is intended to capture onchain revenue to fund long-term operations.\n\nOn tokenomics, LINK is an ERC-20 with a fixed maximum supply of 1,000,000,000 LINK and a large circulating supply (roughly 696.85M LINK per the provided sources). The token functions as the economic instrument to pay for oracle services, to stake for service guarantees, and to align incentives among node operators and requestors. Chainlink’s initial distribution occurred in 2017 through an ICO; explicit premine percentages or PIP values are not present in the provided files. The economic roadmap includes staking incentives, rewards programs (Chainlink Rewards Season 1 snapshot and allocations), and the Chainlink Reserve, which together are intended to improve long-term sustainability and network security.\n\nGovernance for Chainlink is best described as hybrid: Chainlink Labs (formerly SmartContract) coordinates product development and large-scale deployments while decentralized node operators run the oracle services; governance is not a pure on-chain DAO in the provided materials. Chainlink has formally introduced staking and economic alignment mechanisms and maintains a rapid product release cadence (multiple releases and product rollouts documented through 2024–2025). Known operational risks are mostly at the node/operator level (e.g., 2020 node operator compromises and spam attacks) rather than protocol-level freezes. Looking forward, the roadmap emphasizes CCIP expansion, CRE and DataLink adoption for institutional tokenization, continued staking maturation, and additional product integrations across new chains.",
  "methodology": "https://blockindex.ai/dscore",
  "classification": {
    "layer": "Layer 2",
    "isToken": true,
    "consensus": "PoS",
    "parentChain": "ETH"
  },
  "dScoreComponents": {
    "autonomy": 0,
    "ageHistory": 13,
    "governance": 21,
    "nodeDistribution": 0,
    "initialDistribution": 0
  },
  "decentralizationVerdict": "Centralized Leaning"
}