If you are a multi-chain user, you have probably heard of Pyth Price Feeds. They crop up everywhere in the context of L2s and EVM networks – as well as on a host of non-EVM chains including Solana.
But while this infrastructure technology may be ubiquitous, it’s not widely understood. Unless you’re a developer, price-feed oracles are an abstract concept at best.
Here’s how they work with Pyth – and why they’re so important in the omnichain era.
Oracles everywhere
Pyth Price Feeds are a popular type of oracle designed to deliver real-time data from an array of markets.
Blockchains by design are closed systems that are incapable of accessing data residing on other networks or Web2 systems by default.
Oracles are the means by which this data is accessed with the accuracy and low latency required to power on-chain markets.
For example, L2 perps exchanges allow users to trade based on the reference price of assets such as BTC and ETH.
In order for prices to be quoted precisely and for liquidations and PnL to be accurately dispensed, oracles are required to deliver real-time data from networks such as Bitcoin and from exchanges such as Binance.
This is the role that Pyth Price Feeds play, supplying data from over 450 markets.
While many of these markets are for cryptocurrency, Pyth also supplies data on real-world assets such as AAPL and AMC. From stocks to equities, Pyth provides it all.
Why is Pyth so popular?
Pyth has experienced particular success in supplying the infrastructure to bootstrap new L2 networks.
When a new chain is birthed, there are hundreds of dapps in need of accurate pricing data in order to power prediction markets, synths, perps and DEX swaps.
The need for all of this information to be quoted accurately and in synchronicity with the latest market prices represents a major undertaking.
The oracle solution relied on needs to be accurate and always available: maximum uptime is imperative.
Blast is one of the latest networks to harness Pyth Price Feeds; Pyth is providing the price data for 15 apps that have launched on the nascent EVM chain.
These include perps platform Blast Futures, leverage trading platform DTX, and Curvance money market.
The benefit from the perspective of the platforms is the ability to tap into low-latency data feeds that enable smart contracts to operate accurately.
Confidence in pricing
While Pyth is by no means the only oracle provider on the market, its Price Feeds have a number of unique qualities.
One of these is a confidence ranking, which manifests as a price band surrounding the asset price displayed.
This provides an insight into the volatility affecting a particular asset, and suggests the degree to which price divergence can be expected.
For example, Pyth might publish the current price of BTC as $70,000 ± $10.
Price feeds are transmitted over the Pyth protocol, which attracts distinct groups of participants who provide core services.
This includes Publishers, tasked with submitting pricing information to Pyth’s oracle program. The oracle combines the data provided by Publishers and converts it into a single aggregate price and confidence interval.
While Pyth has proven its worth on EVM networks, it earned its stripes on Solana, where the chain’s high throughput and low fees demand highly accurate, low-latency solutions.
This is essential in order for wallets, DEXs, and other Solana dapps to display accurate pricing information.
In the omnichain age, blockchain ecosystems can’t survive without sub-second pricing information supplied 24/7 from a host of L1s, L2s, L3s, and off-chain sources including equities markets and stock exchanges.
Having conquered Solana, Pyth Price Feeds are now making rapid inroads into the EVM ecosystem, providing the infrastructure for on-chain money markets to flourish.
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