Pondering Codius - Where The Smart Oracles Live

Back inwards 2013 I attended the Ripple Developer Conference at Money2020. One of the interesting presentations that stood out to me was a give-and-take on smart contracts that would hold upward able to brand autonomous decisions as well as fifty-fifty pay for developers to ameliorate their code.

Since that conference at that spot has been a lot of to a greater extent than evolution inwards the infinite of smart contracts, peculiarly if you lot await at Ethereum. However, i of the biggest obstacles limiting what a smart contract tin practise has ever been the information it tin use. To pose it simply, smart contacts running on blockchains could entirely access information from inside that blockchain, non from the Internet every bit a whole. This is to brand sure enough those contracts are executed inwards a consistent mode at every machine - you lot couldn't for illustration direct maintain a contract checking the electrical flow Foreign Exchange rates online, since ii unlike machines asking for the same information could decease unlike data. Moreover, at that spot is a query of safety as well as preventing DDOS attacks - a script asking for a spider web page 1000 times executed at 1000 locations would effect inwards a i thou one thousand page requests.

To address these issues, the concept of "smart oracles" came about. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 smart oracle is a slice of software running on a machine that has access to both the blockchain data, every bit good every bit the existent basis data, as well as tin interact freely betwixt the two. You mightiness have, for example, SatoshiDice checking the blockchain for transaction bets as well as evaluating them, or some bot that checks the electrical flow Bitcoin substitution charge per unit of measurement as well as embeds it into the Bitcoin blockchain.

One of the projects offering a distributed platform for running smart oracles that inspired today's weblog post is Codius. It's a projection that grew out of the initial stance for smart contracts on the Ripple platform into what it is today. I would similar to acquaint to you lot some ideas of what could hold upward built using that platform. But first, some assumptions.

Smart oracle assumptions

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 useful smart oracle platform needs to offering the next functions:

• Make the code to hold upward run verifiable as well as opened upward - anyone interacting amongst the code needs to hold upward able to brand sure enough the proper code is running as well as it hasn't been tampered with
• Interact amongst both the Internet as well as the blockchains - this is needed to leverage the ability of smart oracles over smart contracts
• The oracle needs to hold upward able to continue some someone information - whether it's someone keys for signing transactions or other proprietary data, the oracles are to a greater extent than useful when they tin shop some information privately. Of course, the someone information tin hold upward made world through proper role handlers
• In many cases, it is beneficial for multiple smart oracles to hold upward run yesteryear unlike parties to ensure at that spot is no collusion. Because of this, the platform running the oracles needs to hold upward opened upward beginning as well as non direct maintain proprietary code

Given those features, nosotros tin construct some interesting projects...

Factom inwards a script

Since Factom is essentially exactly embedding information to hold upward stored inwards the blockchain, it would hold upward slow to setup some smart oracles where you lot tin pay some money as well as direct maintain sure enough pieces of information embedded into the blockchain - whether it's hashes of proof of existence, or actual information similar the electrical flow substitution rates, it doesn't thing much. Having to a greater extent than than i oracle communicating on what information to embed tin also hold upward useful to brand sure enough no unmarried political party is manipulating the data.

Coin to Crypto 2.0 gateways

In the Crypto 2.0 space, at that spot is a demand for efficient, inexpensive as well as secure gateways betwixt the diverse coins as well as the 2.0 system. Most of those gateways are currently run yesteryear centralized parties, but amongst smart oracles you lot could easily reinvent that model as well as run it on a few smart oracles.

Distributed gambling

Smart oracles could serve every bit an interesting platform for betting as well as gambling. Users would hold upward able to register as well as run a peril amongst the oracles against i another, real-world events, or against the house, which tin also hold upward run yesteryear the oracles inwards a fashion similar to JustDice. 

Distributed messaging

Since the oracles would hold upward able to shop someone data, anyone would hold upward able to shipping messages to hold upward stored on multiple oracles that tin afterwards hold upward retrieved yesteryear the intended recipient. This communication could hold upward end-to-end encrypted, as well as since it wouldn't reside on a unmarried server, it could hold upward to a greater extent than robust than a lot of networks.

Arbitraging bots

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 lot of exchanges (centralized or distributed) practise goodness from initial marketplace position liquidity bootstrapping that tin hold upward achieved through the utilisation of bots. Those bots are ordinarily tasked on copying the marketplace position from an existing substitution onto the novel i as well as locking inwards whatever trades that mightiness direct maintain place. Moreover, at that spot is fifty-fifty to a greater extent than practise goodness if at that spot is contest inwards this infinite - having multiple parties competing amongst i some other to render the best rates create activity, every bit good every bit brand the marketplace position to a greater extent than competitive. If an substitution that needed liquidity would render smart oracle code for anyone to easily deploy as well as run on Codius amongst tweakable parameters, they could chop-chop run into a lot of amateur marketplace position makers render them amongst a competitive marketplace position on their platform. Similarly, the same could hold upward done on a 2.0 platform amongst a decentralized substitution similar Ripple.

In this example, the smart oracles are mainly used every bit cheap, 24/7 hosting platforms.

Timed releases of hugger-mugger information

Through the utilisation of encryption as well as provably fair gambling platforms releasing their hugger-mugger seeds at a predictable fourth dimension inwards the future.

Economic contracts

There is a lot of demand for diverse economical contracts out there, as well as a lot of them rely on some external data, such every bit the electrical flow substitution rate, beingness fed in. Smart oracles could non entirely facilitate the proper information beingness verifiably embedded into the blockchain, but also execute the smart contracts every bit desired inwards an objective fashion.

And many more...

There are many other ways i tin utilisation smart oracles, ranging from uncomplicated servers running scripts on i end, through embedding information into the blockchain, downward to leveraging both the cryptocurrencies as well as information from the existent world. The principal payoff of using oracles over traditional servers is that a lot to a greater extent than of them tin hold upward deployed at the same time, as well as the same script tin hold upward easily executed yesteryear multiple parties, hence minimizing the peril of malicious behavior.

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