Buy Chainlink (LINK)

Yes, you can buy at Anycoin Direct LINK with PayPal. You can also pay with GiroPay, credit card (VISA, MasterCard), SEPA, Sofort and EPS bank transfer.

The PayPal platform is simple and fast. It is very easy to carry out transactions with just a few clicks. If you want to instantly buy LINK with PayPal, you don't have to enter your bank details every time. Therefore, money transfers with PayPal are completed within a few moments. In addition, PayPal has been around for 25 years and is one of the largest payment methods in the world. Anycoin Direct allows you to buy LINK with PayPal.

No. It is not possible to deposit LINK directly into your personal PayPal wallet.

ChainLinks Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) enables developers to perform secure cross chain token transfers, send arbitrary messages to smart contracts on other blockchains, and facilitate simultanous data and value transfers.

ChainLink, basically resolving the oracle problem, created the so called "hybrid smart contracts" which in turn use oracles as middleware to retrieve external data inputs, push data outputs to external systems, and perform scalable off-chain computations. They serve as a two-way bridge between smart contracts and the off-chain world and additionally provide a security framework for protecting against any single point of failure like data manipulation and downtime.

So we already scratched on the surface of what runs on- and what runs off-chain in the processes of Chainlinks CCIP. Lets dive a little deeper.

On the blockchains itself, ChainLink provides the aforementioned smart contracts called oracle contracts, which have access to external APIs. The users request through the smart contract (oracle contract), get then redirected to the respective smart contract which contains the kind of information requested and gets the data back.

In short: ChainLinks behaviour of an ideal Oracle looks like this:

1. Accept requets (on-chain)

2. Obtain data (off-chain)

3. Return data (on-chain)

The process being rather simple, it opens a wide range of usecases for smart contracts and blockchain technology in general. The On Chain functions are served through three types of contracts, which help in the matching of user request and optaining the needed data.

The whole process of gathering the requested data starts in the smart contract. It then utilizes three different contracts in order to fulfil the request, being firstly the reputation contract, which ensures that the oracle provider is reliable and trustworthy. If that is the case, the request is passed to the order-matching contract, which (like the name implies) matching the order with the appropiate oracle which contains the needed data. Lastly the aggregating contract is in charge of obtaining the exact data and develivery onto the respective contract.

The off-chain fucntions are the oracle nodes which are part of the ChainLink architecture, connected to the blockchain. Most of the workload happening in the ChainLink network takes place here. It's basically the middlemen between the blockchain, where the initial smart contracts are working on and the external API, which contains the requested off-chain data.

ChainLink Workflow looks basically like this:

1. USER-Smart Contract makes an on-chain request

2. ChainLink-Smart Contract logs an event for the oracles

3. ChainLink core picks up the event and routes the assignment to an adapter

4. ChainLink adapter performs a request to an external API (external data feeds = data providers)

5. ChainLink adapter processes the response and passes it back to the core (data processing field)

6. ChainLink core reports the data to the ChainLink Smart Contract

7. ChainLink Smart Contract aggregates responses and passes them back as a single response to the USER-Smart contract

The nodes, being the core and the adapter, price in the computational work done and are paid in LINK Tokens by the Smart Contract users, which then receive high quality output.

This, like the name already says, helps facilitate transfers of tokens and data across blockchain networks, which is utilized by smart-contract developers. This makes it possible for developers in the realm of Web3, to have dApps containing several smart contracts from different blockchains together! This thingy is also known as a cross-chain smart contract.

Chainlink 2.0 was mentioned in their Whitepaper which was released in April 2021. It describes how a decentralized metalayer will be implemented into the workflow. By this the smart contracts will be highly scalable and confidential, while also adding methods of off-chain computation.

With this the decentralized oracles of Chainlink can bring new capabilities onto smart contracts that blockchains are unable to deliver. Bringing about off-chain computation layers to the hybrid smart contracts, which use the blockchains inherent security, but adding scalability, new features and interconnectedness of off-chain systems.

In the 2.0 Whitepaper the developers also suggest a framework combining a number of interoperating Decentralized Oracle Networks (DONs), each containing a collection of nodes for data transfer and decentralized off-chain computation. Almost llike a Layer-2 scaling solution. with the difference of being connected to several blockchains at the same time.

We are eagerly awaiting the updates mentioned in the ChainLink 2.0 Whitepaper which are essentially:

1. Hybrid Smart Contracts:

   • Seamlessly connect on-chain smart contracts to off-chain resources.

   • Maintain privacy and security by leveraging preferred blockchains or layer 2 solutions.

2. Enhanced Data Feeds:

   • Provide higher-frequency updates and privacy-preserving queries.

   • Deliver data across multiple blockchains, reducing costs.

   • Empower DeFi applications, such as derivatives protocols and enterprise solutions, with secure external data.

   • Utilize OCR (Off-Chain Reporting) to improve scalability.

3. Enhanced VRF (Verifiable Random Function):

   • Offer increased security, cryptoeconomic security, and cost-efficiency.

   • Support applications like secure gaming, NFT minting, and others requiring randomness.

4. Chainlink Keepers:

   • Provide decentralized, reliable automation for smart contract functions like yield harvesting and liquidations.

   • Undergo production readiness and testing by leading projects.

5. Fair Sequencing Services (FSS):

   • Use Decentralized Oracle Networks (DONs) to order transactions on a blockchain.

   • Mitigate front-running, back-running, and other miner-extractable value (MEV) related attacks.

   • Include other transaction types like oracle report transmissions.

6. Decentralized Identity:

   • Use privacy-preserving oracle protocols for interoperability with existing systems.

   • Enable new use cases such as on-chain credit-based lending.

Another new feature of Chainlink 2.0 worth mentioning will bring improvements to the security of the network, by improving the staking process. It introduces a two-tier sytem, where the first-tier network of nodes that provide data and a second-tier network that resolves disputes in case the data is believed to be incorrect.

Additionally so called watchdog-nodes, which could be any first-tier node in the network acting as a watchdog, raise alerts to the second-tier network. They are assigned with a random priority, which plays a role in case the second-tier node confirms the alert. In that case the highest priority watchdog node gets basically a reward originating from the malicious nodes.

With it the costs for "bribing" (with your stake) costs quadratically more, bringing about higher security with a growing network. This means the amount which has to be staked, for securing the network, does not have to grow proportionally to the raise in the security levels, lowering the average costs for securing the network.

Chainlinks Partnerships are accross various sectors which make use of their decentralized oracle network and blockchain services. The key partnerships are as follows:

1. SWIFT - connecting traditional finance systems with blockchain networks

2. Circle - cross-chain transfers of USDC

3. Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) - explore fund tokenization,bringing TradFi instruments into the blockchain

4. Fidelity and Sygnum - brings Net Asset Value (NAV) data on-chain, to improve transparency for tokenized assets

5. Telefonica - SIM Card Fraud prevention

6. Arta TechFin - Tokenizing real world assets (RWA) and utilizing blockchains with general asset management tools

7. Vodafone - smart contracts to execute insurance contracts instantly providing faster flow of money or supporting global trade processes how they put it

If you want to see the extended list, you can find it via the the dedicated ChainLink Ecosystem Page. There are, to this date, 2149 Projects and 2573 Integrations in the Chainlink Ecosystem, which shows the value it creates for the use of smart contracts and blockchains in general.

Some of the partners are basically using ChainLinks Technology within a so called Sandbox, in this case for digital assets or tokenization of real world assets. The Digital Asset Sandbox is a platform where financial institutions are able to explore and develop digital asset applications to conduct tokenization trials and create proof of concept (PoCs) within days instead of months (!), speeding up the general process of innovation in the sphere of digital assets.

The so called flash loan attacks have been used, by the fact that some isolated DEXes were offering Tokens for lower prices, since they either used only one source for the price (like Uniswap), instead of averaging the "Fair Price" through a collection of different price feed sources.

This opened up the possibility of lending an asset on Exchange A, for a relatively low price, and selling it on Exchange B, for a higher price; then paying back the loan from Exchange A and keeping the difference as a profit.

This is also known as the problem of single-point of failure which naturally decentralized blockchains want to resolve, but could not do for isolated decentralized exchanges. Chainlink provides the solution by considering varoius price feeds in real time and making up an average, based on the nodes trust levels, sending it to the exchanges and thus contributing to a better price discovery mechanism.

The LINK token aka Chainlink's cryptocurrency is primarily used to pay out rewards from Oracle. In addition, the LINK token is also used as a means of payment within the network and can be used as applications in DeFi, Supply Chain management, gaming and more.

Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis co-founded Chainlink (LINK).

Sergey Nazarov is well known within the crypto industry due to his background as an entrepreneur and blockchain technology. For example, Sergey Nazarov has been instrumental in promoting Smart contracts and decentralized Oracles.

Steve Ellis, with his engineering background, has an expertise in software development. With this, he contributed to the creation and development of the Chainlink platform.

In addition to Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis, they have a whole team under them consisting of developers and experts.

LINK token is an ERC-20 token and is located on the Ethereum network. To store LINK tokens, you must have a wallet compatible with storing ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum network.

You can also store the LINK token in the Anycoin Vault. In the Vault, you can easily and securely store, swap, sell or buy your crypto. This is because Anycoin Direct uses cold-storage, making it extra secure. By using the Anycoin Vault, you pay less transaction fees, your cryptocurrencies are securely stored and it offers you the ability to trade easily and quickly with LINK tokens.

In 2014, Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis founded Chainlink (LINK) to solve the lack of reliable data for smart contracts. To do so, they developed an oracle network named Chainlink to integrate external data sources using smat contracts on blockchain platforms. After a successful ICO (Initial Coin Offering) in 2017, Chainlink grew to become one of the largest blockchain networks. With that, it developed several collaborations within the DeFi, insurance claims and gaming sectors. One such collaboration includes Google cloud.

LINK is the ticker symbol of their own token and blockchain, Chainlink. The number of tokens on the Chainlink blockchain is between 500 and 550 million tokens. Chainlink's native token (LINK) resides on the Ethereum network and thus serves as an ERC-20 token.

LINK's token also allows people to vote on the future of Chainlink. This keeps Chainlink's network decentralized.