Chainlink is a blockchain abstraction layer used to universally connect smart contracts. It does this through a decentralised oracle network that provides real-world data to smart contracts. Secure interaction between complex smart contracts and external data feeds, payment methods, and events are supported. Tracing its history back to 2014, Chainlink was founded by Steve Ellis and Sergey Nazarov. It has its headquarters in Grand Cayman.

Developed by a large community, Chainlink makes use of open-source technology. Chainlink tokens, also known as LINK coins, are used to pay for the services of Chainlink operators who provide data to the blockchain by those who open smart contracts. LINK is built on Ethereum and is an ERC-20 token. Without sacrificing the security and reliability of the blockchain, Chainlink allows smart contracts to have expanded functionality by enabling secure access to external data.

Chainlink is one of the first networks to allow off-chain data integration into smart contracts and is a major player in the data processing field. Numerous data providers, including Brave New Coin, Alpha Vantage, and Huobi, have announced integrations with Chainlink. Data providers are able to monetize the information they possess by selling access to this data directly to Chainlink.