## What Is Chainlink?
Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that provides tamper-proof data feeds to smart contracts. For prediction markets, Chainlink is the gold standard for price data — used by OraclBet as the primary resolution source for all crypto and stock price markets.
## How Chainlink Price Feeds Work
### Data Collection Multiple independent data providers (nodes) collect price data from premium APIs including exchanges, aggregators, and financial data providers.
### Aggregation Chainlink aggregates data from multiple nodes using a decentralized consensus mechanism: - Each node submits its price observation - Outliers are filtered - The median is computed as the canonical price - This price is published on-chain
### On-Chain Publication The aggregated price is stored in a smart contract on each supported blockchain: - Updated on every heartbeat (typically every few seconds on Polygon) - Also updated when price deviates by a threshold (e.g., 0.1%) - Anyone can read the latest price by calling the contract
## Chainlink Feeds on OraclBet
OraclBet reads these Chainlink feeds on Polygon:
| Feed | Pair | Use Case | |------|------|----------| | BTC/USD | Bitcoin | BTC price markets, 5-min Up/Down | | ETH/USD | Ethereum | ETH price target markets | | SOL/USD | Solana | SOL prediction markets | | DOGE/USD | Dogecoin | DOGE prediction markets | | ADA/USD | Cardano | ADA prediction markets | | AAPL/USD | Apple Stock | Stock prediction markets | | GOOGL/USD | Alphabet Stock | Stock prediction markets |
All 7 feeds are free to read on Polygon — no subscription or API key required.
## Why Chainlink Is Ideal for Prediction Markets
### Decentralized No single entity controls the price feed. Multiple independent node operators must agree on the price. This prevents any single party from manipulating resolution.
### Tamper-Proof Data is verified through cryptographic proofs and economic incentives. Nodes are staked and can be slashed for providing incorrect data.
### On-Chain Prices are stored directly on the blockchain. OraclBet's smart contracts can read them without any off-chain API calls. This makes resolution fully verifiable and auditable.
### Real-Time Chainlink feeds update in near-real-time on Polygon, making them suitable for short-term markets like BTC 5-minute predictions.
## The Resolution Flow with Chainlink
1. Market expires (end date reached) 2. OraclBet oracle queries the Chainlink price feed contract 3. Latest verified price is read (`latestRoundData()`) 4. Price is compared against market threshold 5. Resolution (Yes/No) is proposed on-chain 6. Dispute window opens 7. Resolution finalized, payouts distributed
## Conclusion
Chainlink oracles provide the most reliable, decentralized price data available on-chain. By using Chainlink as the primary resolution source, OraclBet ensures that crypto and stock prediction markets are resolved with tamper-proof, independently verified data that anyone can audit.