Chainlink (LINK) Brings More Randomness to Gaming and Security dApps with VRF
Chainlink (LINK), an Ethereum-based decentralized oracle network, has rolled out a new feature dubbed the Verifiable Random Function (VRF). VRF aims to accelerate the development of smart contracts in gaming, security, and other platforms, boost randomness and make them more tamper-proof, according to a blog post on May 12, 2020.
VRF Oracle to Eliminate Manipulation in Smart Contracts
In a bid to boost randomness and make it harder for bad actors to tamper with smart contracts designed to power blockchain gaming dApps or other platforms where the selection of winners is based on a random process, Chainlink has launched the Verifiable Random Function Oracle (VRF).
As stated in its blog post, Chainlink VRF is based on Goldberg’s Verifiable Random Function, which ensures that the exact outcome of a given process is impossible to predict by anyone who doesn’t have access to the randomly generated seed or secret key.
Chainlink explains:
“The VRF secret key is a number the oracle chooses from the uniform distribution on {0,…,#secp256k1-1} in a cryptographically secure way. (secp256k1) is the elliptic curve used by Ethereum’s cryptography. Associated with this secret key is a public key, which is used to identify the oracle. The oracle registers the public key with the on-chain machinery, along with the chainlink job-ID it will respond to.“
Due to the provable randomness of the oracle, Chainlink says VRF can be used to make games more fun and trustworthy, generate provably random assignments of duties such as randomly assigning judges to cases at a law court, and more.
PoolTogether Adopts Chainlink VRF
Interestingly, Chainlink’s latest oracle has already attracted its first adopter in PoolTogether, a no-loss savings game that claims to be powered by audited, secure smart contracts. PoolTogether is a DeFi lottery platform that puts all interest accrued on its dai stablecoin holdings into one pot and users are randomly selected to win the prize.
PoolTogeher says it’ll now replace its existing manual and centralized process of winner selection with the new Chainlink solution, boosting the transparency and trustworthiness of its system.
PoolTogether said:
“The PoolTogether Protocol uses random numbers to select the winner of each prize. Initially, this randomness generation process was a manual and centralized process, making it difficult for some users to fully trust PoolTogether Protocol’s ability to generate a provably fair winner.”
Chainlink’s highly functional decentralized oracles have been gaining significant traction in the blockchain ecosystem, with numerous projects integrating them into their processes.
As reported by BTCManager on May 1, 2020, Tezos (XTZ) inked a strategic partnership deal with Chainlink, to enable the former to tap the latter’s decentralized oracles.
At press time, the price of Chainlink’s native LINK altcoin sits at $3.73, with a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, as seen on CoinMarketCap.
