Chainlink describes itself as the "leading decentralised oracle network", it is used by enterprises and others to enable smart contracts on any distributed ledger – but it's not blockchain per se, but it supports it. The idea is Chainlink can "reliably connect to real-world data, securing billions of dollars in value across decentralised finance (De-Fi), insurance, gaming, and other industries".
Chainlink consists of "a potentially infinite subset of networks that support blockchains and operate in parallel to them and to each other by relying on a common framework that is highly customizable and adaptable to the unique needs of users".
STC Bahrain will use the node to support Chainlink Price Feeds, decentralised oracle networks that supply financial market data to DeFi. It will decentralise the delivery of data on-chain helping "spur the ecosystem growth as more economic activity and value begins to migrate to blockchain networks", STC Bahrain said.
Saad Odeh, chief wholesale officer of STC Bahrain, explained: “We’re excited to launch an official Chainlink node and bring high-quality financial market data to the rapidly growing DeFi economy and smart contract ecosystem as a whole.
He continued: “Our extensive experience in providing high-uptime telecom infrastructure for the Middle East region will help ensure the highest reliability for our Chainlink node deployment. This further showcases our commitment to advancing of the digital economy by acting as key enablers for technologies of the future such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and advanced cloud infrastructures. We look forward to contributing to the growth of Chainlink as the industry-leading oracle network and the adoption of smart contract-based applications across the global economy.”
Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink Labs added: “With accelerating demand for validated data to enhance smart contract applications, there is a growing opportunity for leading infrastructure providers like stc Bahrain to provide their services to various smart contracts,” stated Sergey Nazarov, Co-founder of Chainlink. “Through the deployment of its own Chainlink node, stc Bahrain is supporting the smart contract economy by not only delivering critical data inputs but also positioning itself to provide a wide range of off-chain computations that are critical to smart contracts.”
