Oracles and API3 (Price Feeds and Random Numbers)
About this lesson
In this course lesson, you will learn how oracles play a vital role in bringing offchain data to the blockchain. The data we will be refering to in course is Price Feeds and Random numbers.
Lesson Contents
- Understanding the API Connectivity Problem
- Key Components of API3
- Breakdown of Decentralized APIs (dAPIs)
- Understanding Quantum Random Number Generation (QRNG) in API3
- Introduction to First-Party Oracles
- Exploring Airnode's Self-Operating Feature
- Additional Features of Airnode
- How Airnode Works
Lesson 1: Understanding the API Connectivity Problem
Introduction
- Objective: To understand the challenge of integrating off-chain data with blockchain technologies, known as the API Connectivity Problem.
- Background: Explanation of the deterministic nature of blockchain and how it limits direct access to off-chain data.
The Problem Detailed
- Smart Contracts' Limitation: The EVM blockchain cannot access data outside of its own network natively. It has no idea what the dollar value of what Ethereum is or any assets. Being that the blockchain is also deterministic, there is no internal source of randomness.