February 2019 Summaries

In a fireside chat held in San Francisco, Tom Gonser, the founder of DocuSign, and Sergey Nazarov, CEO of Chainlink, discussed the transformative potential of smart contracts in business processes. Gonser, who revolutionized the digital signature industry with DocuSign, sees parallels between its journey and Chainlink's current path in the realm of smart contracts. He emphasized the need for smart contracts to be connected to external data through robust APIs, a gap Chainlink aims to fill with its oracle network. Gonser highlighted the efficiency and reliability offered by smart contracts, which execute automatically based on data, reducing human intervention and error. Nazarov and Gonser believe that smart contracts will become essential for businesses, much like e-signatures have, especially in industries like derivatives and insurance that already face trust challenges. The conversation underscored the importance of developing sophisticated oracles to integrate smart contracts with the necessary data inputs, suggesting that early adoption by major companies could drive widespread acceptance.

The February 2019 ETHDenver Hackathon showcased the innovative use of Chainlink oracles in blockchain applications through a competition where participants had 36 hours to develop decentralized solutions. Chainlink awarded prizes to three standout projects: SmartPiggies, Gran Fondo, and EventLINK. SmartPiggies, the judge's choice winner, introduced a decentralized peer-to-peer options market using Chainlink to mitigate trust issues in financial transactions. Gran Fondo, earning second place, created a decentralized app for athletic competitions, leveraging Strava data to ensure trustworthy performance tracking and prize distribution. The first-place winner, EventLINK, addressed challenges in public event planning by using Twitter API metrics and crowdfunding smart contracts to determine optimal event locations and secure funding. These projects highlighted the capability of Chainlink oracles to automate smart contract execution based on real-world data, illustrating their readiness for practical implementation.

The Denver meetup, scheduled for February 14th at 5:30 PM MST, invites the Chainlink and Celer communities to gather the evening before ETHDenver. This event will focus on blockchain security, scalability, and the integration of external data for executing on-chain events, featuring speakers Daniel Kochis, Chainlink's Global Head of Business Development, and Mo Dong, Co-Founder of Celer. Hosted at Galvanize Denver’s Golden Triangle Campus, within walking distance from ETHDenver, the meetup promises networking opportunities, discussions on decentralization, Layer-2 scalability, and served refreshments. Attendees are encouraged to RSVP due to limited space, with the added perk of receiving Chainlink swag. Daniel Kochis brings extensive experience in global business development, while Mo Dong applies his academic and professional expertise in networking and blockchain systems to address scalability challenges.