The importance of choosing the right oracles for Decentralized Finance: Chainlink and Akropolis

The need for data transparency and reliable sources is core to the architecture of any Web3 project. To this end, Akropolis is announcing its integration of Chainlink, the prime oracle choice for DeFi.

Akropolis’ model proposes the creation of AFOs (Autonomous Financial Organizations), run like DAOs, that are generated by people who trust each other and would like to leverage their power as a group to conduct financial operations. For the time being, the financial integrations are subject to DeFi protocols and trading. However, according to our long term plan, especially after deploying the Akropolis Chain to allow scaling and interoperability, some of these financial operations will require an interface with traditional financial institutions such as banks, credit issuers, insurers, and others.

“We started thinking about integrating oracles, and most specifically Chainlink, around 8 months ago when we revised our projects’ direction and architecture. We have now reached a more stable phase where we launched our MVP into the Ethereum Network and are working towards our own chain on Substrate. After seeing Chainlink’s trailblazing advancements in the oracle space, the choice of Chainlink was natural. We are happy to have the opportunity to work alongside such a great team that is also building towards the Web3 vision,” said Alex Maz, Akropolis’ CTO.

We are widely aware that any institution is prone to data tampering and misuse. At Akropolis, AFOs in the future will need to work in a trustless way with institutions, and the only way to secure this is via the use of blockchain oracles. Chainlink, due to its chain-agnostic nature and robust model, as well as being considered the best in the space, is Akropolis’ clear choice for these situations.

There are two core use-cases where Akropolis will substantially benefit from Chainlink:

• Fiat onramps: Verifying data from Fiat onramp integrations, which might also lead to creating services like Ramp for onboarding our users to crypto through stablecoins.
• Banks integration: Currently, our co-ops can manage only crypto accounts. However, being able to integrate banks (management of escrow accounts via signing transactions in the blockchain) enables the AFOs to expand to their full potential.

In more practical terms, Akropolis has envisioned several scenarios in which both interoperability and the need for oracles are present:

• Illustrative Scenario A: Societe Generale has issued a EUR100 million covered bond on a public Ethereum blockchain. A Chinese conglomerate issued a RMB250 million sovereign bond on NEO. As an asset manager / treasurer of a mutual/DAO, you will be able to manage a portfolio of assets from multiple chains. Bond’s coupon payments are routed through a set of chain bridges to mutual/DAO, governed on the underlying protocol.
• Illustrative Scenario B: Clearbanc has an existing validated business model which in due course can be ported on-chain. Imagine that different businesses are built on different open-source protocols: DEXes, Ad Networks, Data Marketplaces. C2FC provides the opportunity to finance such businesses without selling a share. The implementation of C2FC provides shared liquidity for fundraising as well as 0x — shared liquidity for exchanges.

In both illustrative scenarios, we spot various data sources such as Societe Generale (or any other bank, for instance), the Chinese conglomerate and Clearbanc. But, how can one prove the data’s reliability and veracity in each instance? As such, the need for Chainlink's oracles when dealing with off-chain data in all these situations is clear.

We look forward to this new integration and trust that we have found in Chainlink the best option for the Akropolis protocol both today and for the future when Akropolis becomes its own chain. The choice of integrating oracles within the protocol is a choice for transparency, fairness and a future where users will be able to see how institutions behave and for a society to becomie more resilient to financial crises overall.

About Akropolis

Akropolis provides a platform and toolkit for largely scalable, well-coordinated and transparent informal economies. Akropolis empowers and enables people to build, scale and professionalize informal financial organizations via our comprehensive, user-friendly and complete platform. We take the best of legacy financial systems and through technology, re-engineer them to adapt them to a wider, more inclusive and borderless user base. Learn more by visiting the Akropolis website, Twitter or Telegram.

About Chainlink:

Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that enables smart contracts to securely access off-chain data feeds, web APIs, and traditional bank payments. Chainlink is consistently selected as one of the top blockchain technologies by leading independent research firms such as Gartner. It is well known for providing highly secure and reliable oracles to large enterprises (Google and SWIFT) and leading smart contract development teams.

Learn more by visiting the Chainlink website, Twitter or Telegram. If you’re a developer, visit the developer documentation or join the technical discussion on Discord.