STC Bahrain launches chainlink node on Ethereum

stc Bahrain, telecommunication provider in MENA launches an official Chainlink Blockchain node to provide smart contracts with access to a secure source of real-world data and secure off-chain computations. The node is live on Ethereum mainnet, with plans to expand to other blockchains in the future. 

The introduction and growing adoption of blockchain technology has enabled the creation of a parallel economy where traditional business processes can be fully automated in a trust-minimized manner, bringing significant advancements in efficiency and transparency to countless industries around the globe. Smart contracts are programs that run on blockchain networks and facilitate processes in the form of decentralized applications (dApps), with code executed exactly as written in a tamper-resistant manner and the results stored on an immutable distributed ledger that no one party can manipulate. This results in a shared global source of truth, reduced counterparty risk, and streamlined economic activity. 

However, smart contracts require access to high-quality real-world datasets in order to expand their utility and address advanced use cases. Through additional infrastructure known as oracles, validated real-world data and off-chain computations can be provided to blockchain networks and consumed by smart contract applications. Oracles are essential, as most smart contract use cases, such as settling derivatives agreements based on market prices and executing parametric insurance payments based on event outcomes, require external data. 

As per the press release, " As a leading digital enabler in the Middle East region, stc Bahrain is excited to announce that we are now running our own official node on Chainlink, the industry-standard decentralized oracle network. As the most widely adopted oracle solution, Chainlink connects smart contract applications to existing web APIs, off-chain computations, and other blockchain networks to expand the utility of decentralized applications across the multi-chain ecosystem. stc Bahrain is leveraging its extensive expertise in running telecom infrastructure to provide highly reliable decentralized services to smart contracts through its Chainlink node. "

As a first step, stc Bahrain’s Chainlink node is supporting Chainlink Price Feeds—decentralized oracle networks that supply highly accurate and reliable financial market data to Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications such as money markets, stablecoins, derivatives, synthetic assets, and more. Chainlink Price Feeds are already used by hundreds of decentralized applications and help secure tens of billions of dollars in value by providing the exchange rates used to settle derivatives contracts, maintain the collateralization of loans, rebalance asset portfolios, and more. By supporting Chainlink Price Feeds, the stc Bahrain Chainlink node is further decentralizing the delivery of data on-chain, supporting the ecosystem as more economic activity and value begins to migrate to blockchain networks.

The press release adds, that in the future their Chainlink node deployment will be expanded beyond Chainlink Price Feeds and leveraged to support the delivery of a wide range of real-world data sets and the execution of secure off-chain computations to enhance the utility of smart contract applications across the blockchain ecosystem. In addition to market data, a wide range of decentralized applications are using Chainlink oracles to gain access to weather data for insurance, sports data for dynamic NFTs, verifiable randomness for on-chain gaming, Keepers for smart contract automation, and more. In the future, the Chainlink Network will support the multi-chain ecosystem via the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), enabling the creation of secure token bridges and cross-chain smart contracts. With oracles playing such a crucial role in the blockchain ecosystem, we look forward to helping enable increasingly advanced smart contract applications.

“With accelerating demand for validated data to enhance smart contract applications, there is a growing opportunity for leading infrastructure providers like stc Bahrain to provide their services to various smart contracts,” stated Sergey Nazarov, Co-founder of Chainlink. “Through the deployment of its own Chainlink node, stc Bahrain is supporting the smart contract economy by not only delivering critical data inputs but also positioning itself to provide a wide range of off-chain computations that are critical to smart contracts.”

“We’re excited to launch a Chainlink node and bring high-quality financial market data to the rapidly growing DeFi economy and smart contract ecosystem as a whole,” stated Saad Odeh, Chief Wholesale Officer of stc Bahrain. “Our extensive experience in providing high-uptime telecom infrastructure for the Middle East region will help us to ensure the highest reliability for our Chainlink node deployment. This further showcases our commitment to the advancement of the digital economy where we will act as key enablers for the technologies of the future such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and advanced content and cloud infrastructures. We look forward to helping accelerate the growth of both Chainlink as the industry-leading oracle network and the adoption of smart contract-based applications across the global economy.”