Introducing Phase 1 — Self-funded dAPIs
We are excited to announce the launch of the first part of our four-phased dAPI rollout — self-funded dAPIs. Developers can now make use of cryptocurrency and forex data on Arbitrum, Avalanche, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Fantom, Gnosis Chain, Moonbeam, Moonriver, Optimism and Polygon. Additionally, self-funded dAPIs will be available on Polygon’s zkEVM on the 27th of March, as announced previously.
Alongside the launch of self-funded dAPIs, we’re sunsetting our legacy data feed infrastructure across Avalanche, BNB Chain, Polygon, and RSK on the 27th of March. These have been operating for nearly a year and allowed us to gain significant insights and experience in running data feeds in collaboration with our partners.
What are self-funded dAPIs?
Self-funded dAPIs are data feeds that provide up-to-date on-chain values when funds are made available to operate them. For this, each self-funded dAPI comes with its own respective sponsor wallet which allows developers to permissionlessly fund a specific data feed (e.g. ETH/USD on Polygon Mumbai). When the wallet doesn’t have sufficient funds available to perform transactions, updates will not occur, requiring users to add additional funds. This setup allows us to spin up critical oracle infrastructure across numerous networks with minimal overhead. Developers will be able to make use of any existing data feeds without requiring any interaction with API3. In cases where additional feeds are needed, a simple request can be made to API3 and we will make it available as soon as possible. Self-funded dAPIs are fully permissionless and free to use and only require funding from users to cover transaction costs. Consequently, there is no need for a lengthy sales process between the oracle project and developers to initiate integration.
Where can I find self-funded dAPIs?
Self-funded dAPIs are available on the API3 Market, a user-friendly platform that serves as a one-stop hub for discovering and interacting with available dAPIs. The API3 Market provides detailed information about each self-funded dAPI, including update parameters, gas consumption, and funding status. By visiting the Market, users can effortlessly browse and access a wide array of self-funded dAPIs, enabling them to evaluate and use these data feeds across various blockchain networks. With this platform, API3 aims to lower the barriers to entry and encourage more developers to explore the benefits of dAPIs in their applications and projects.
How can I use self-funded dAPIs?
To read a self-funded dAPI, first find the dAPI proxy address associated with the specific dAPI on the API3 Market. If the dAPI proxy is not deployed yet, you can use the API3 Market to deploy it by following the on-screen instructions. Once you have the proxy address, create an instance of the dAPI proxy interface in your smart contract using the address. This instance acts as a bridge between your smart contract and the dAPI, allowing you to fetch data from the dAPI by calling the read() function on the proxy instance.
Keep in mind that funding of the corresponding sponsor wallet of a dAPI is necessary to receive live updates. Users must contribute funds to the sponsor wallet to ensure that on-chain data points are updated.
What’s next?
Over the coming months, the dAPI team will be working diligently to introduce managed dAPIs, a significant upgrade to our current offerings. Managed dAPIs are data feeds aggregated from multiple first-party oracles, providing a higher level of reliability and improved security for users. API3 will handle the gas management overhead and maintenance for managed dAPIs, making them even more convenient for developers.
When available, users will be able to upgrade to managed dAPIs by making payments in the native gas token of the respective network that the dAPI is on. This payment model ensures smooth operations and helps support the infrastructure necessary for the managed dAPIs.
Developers who have been using self-funded dAPIs will have the opportunity to upgrade to managed dAPIs directly via the API3 Market. The upgrade process will involve selecting the desired number of sources to be used in the aggregation and making the required payment. Upon receiving the payment, API3 will create the requested aggregation and point the dAPI name towards it, completing the upgrade.
It is important to note that projects that have already integrated self-funded dAPIs won’t need to change anything when such an upgrade occurs. When an upgrade for a managed dAPI is purchased by anyone, everybody, including existing users on self-funded dAPIs, will benefit from the enhanced reliability and robustness without any additional effort or cost.
We are proud to have already established partnerships with several high-quality data sources that are running first-party oracles. Among these partners are renowned firms like NewchangeFX, Finage, Twelvedata, dxFeed and Finnhub. The integration of these first-party oracles into our managed dAPIs will further enhance the reliability and credibility of the data feeds. It will also enable us to make equities and commodity data available alongside our already existing cryptocurrency and forex data feeds, expanding the range of financial data accessible to DeFi applications.
A lot of things are currently moving in the dAPI development and more news can be expected in the coming months in regard to managed dAPIs, OEV and availability of dAPIs on more networks. As usual you can follow the development in our monthly progress reports and our governance proposals on the API3 Forum.