RedStone Oracles, a significant provider of oracle data to smart contracts, has launched staking oracles designed explicitly for Bitcoin staking.
With the new implementation, users can stake their Bitcoin (BTC) in exchange for Bitcoin-based liquid-staking tokens (LSTs) like Lombard Staked BTC (LBTC) on the Ethereum blockchain.
Marcin Kaźmierczak, RedStone’s co-founder and chief operating officer, told Cointelegraph on Oct. 8 that this marks the first time BTC LSTs can be utilized in decentralized finance (DeFi) for lending and other uses.
What are staking oracles and why are they needed?
Blockchain oracles are services that act as bridges between real-world data and events and blockchains. Their purpose is to verify real-world offchain data on the blockchain.
Oracles are widely used across many DeFi protocols, including lending, which allows users to borrow using their crypto holdings, and staking, which enables them to generate rewards by locking crypto assets into smart contracts.
Blockchains cannot connect to real-world data and events on their own. Source: Chainlink
Staking is an emerging, increasingly popular crypto-economic model across the smart-contract ecosystem that is directly relevant to oracle networks.
Staking oracles collect and verify critical inputs such as staking rewards, slashing events and other data required for the proper functioning of LSTs such as Lido Staked Ether (stETH).
Without oracles, Bitcoin LSTs can be only used to provide liquidity on DEXs
Kaźmierczak told Cointelegraph that with RedStone’s new Bitcoin staking oracles, users can employ Bitcoin LSTs, including LBTC, in a way similar to using wstETH from Lido.
For example, users can implement LBTC in DeFi lending on platforms like Morpho and Compound. They can also use the oracles and LBTC on Gearbox Protocol to generate composable leverage.
RedStone’s chief of staff Tomasz Płatek (left) next to co-founder and chief operating officer Marcin Kaźmierczak. Source: LinkedIn
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“As a Bitcoin holder, you can stake your Bitcoin via Babylon or go through Lombard to receive LBTC, their LST token on Ethereum mainnet,” Kaźmierczak said, adding:
“Without oracles, LBTC can be only used to provide liquidity on decentralized exchanges, as this doesn’t require oracles.”
He said the introduction of Bitcoin staking oracles may trigger an “immediate change” in adopting the DeFi ecosystem around Bitcoin LSTs, similar to what has been created around Ethereum LSTs.
“Due to the nature of Bitcoin that can grow with market excitement, even a small percentage of yield on a large underlying value is a big thing,” Kaźmierczak said.
The news comes a few months after RedStone Oracles raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by major crypto investment firm Arrington Capital.
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