Non-stop marketing period! Constant use cases and project collaborations, Chainlink significantly outperforms Bitcoin in the first quarter.

Due to the severe impact of the coronavirus on a global scale, not only has it severely hit the traditional financial markets, but the cryptocurrency market, which is inherently high-risk and volatile, is naturally not immune to this. However, Chainlink, which focuses on implementing oracle functionality, has not only risen against the trend this year but has also continuously reported practical use cases with various project parties.

Chainlink (Link) outperformed Bitcoin in the first quarter, according to data from Messari, Link rose by 31% in the first quarter, with a trading price close to $3.2 at the time of writing, up 42% since the end of March.

Link's increase over the weekend reached a recent high of 62%, with a price of $3.66 at that time; in comparison, Bitcoin only rose by about 5%.

Speculation Drives Price Surge


Data platform Digital Assets Data's cryptocurrency research analyst Connor Abendschein stated:

Link has a strong following that can continuously hype the project and recommend it to potential buyers, creating a positive cycle of price surges that further drive up prices.

Recently, Chainlink has indeed had many talking points for Chainlink believers, such as its association with the Ethereum protocol Baseline Protocol and the strategic partnerships it has established in the DeFi field, all of which may indirectly drive up the coin's price.

Enterprise Applications

Chainlink is an Oracle system built on the Ethereum blockchain, allowing smart contracts to access real-world external information and provide mechanisms for on-chain use. If someone purchases insurance related to a natural disaster, the Oracle will inform the smart contract when such a disaster occurs to pay the policyholder, and projects using its mechanism must pay Link tokens to Chainlink node operators for Oracle services.

The Baseline Protocol, jointly initiated by accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY), blockchain service provider ConsenSys, and Microsoft in March, is an open-source initiative that combines advanced technologies in blockchain, cryptography, and messaging to offer enterprises a low-cost, secure, and highly private blockchain system through Ethereum. Chainlink is also a participant in this protocol.

Vance Spencer, co-founder of tech company Framework Ventures, stated:

The public is excited about Chainlink's ability to assist enterprise-level applications and be part of the Baseline Protocol. The traditional boundary between smart contracts and oracles has begun to blur, redefining smart contracts and raising expectations for trustless mechanisms. From the integration of the underlying blockchain and oracles, Chainlink has shown the best mechanisms, team, and products in the field so far, and we are starting to see the project's potential to become the ultimate winner.

Leading DeFi

As previously reported, decentralized margin trading platform bZx was hacked twice in February, mainly due to the fact that bZx's WBTC contract price relied solely on Uniswap's price data, leading to a massive sell-off of WBTC on bZx, causing the WBTC contract on bZx to detach from the actual price and plummet.

This event highlights the risks associated with using a single data source. Analyst Abendschein stated:

Chainlink has integrated various use cases, especially the introduction of their decentralized price data, which has been made available for various DeFi protocols like Synthetix and bZx.

By using multiple price feeds, the operational difficulty for hackers attempting to attack will increase, unable to substantially impact the final outcome of transactions. Lending platforms bZx, Aave, Celsius Network, and Synthetix have collaborated with Chainlink to integrate oracle solutions.

Chainlink claims that its decentralized oracle network can significantly expand DeFi smart contracts, increase product variety, and be more attractive to regulated users. However, Bitcoin remains the leader in the cryptocurrency market, and a significant sell-off of Bitcoin could potentially disrupt the bullish trend of Link.