Connected to real-world data, blockchains transform from static ledgers into powerful, adaptive systems that can respond instantly to external events. But to truly live up to their decentralized promise, without risk of compromising security and autonomy, they need oracles that can supply decentralized data.

Isolated from real-world data, blockchains are closed systems reliant on oracles to bridge the information gap. Yet existing oracles can struggle with high costs, transparency or security risks, leaving them ill-equipped for the ever-growing demands of decentralized finance (DeFi) and future blockchain applications.

The Flare Time Series Oracle (FTSO) tackles these limitations directly. Embedded in the Flare network itself, the FTSO helps reduce costs, enhances security, and offers a decentralized data source to support developers' needs.

How the FTSO works

As an “enshrined” oracle, integrated within Flare’s blockchain, the FTSO provides up to 1,000 highly-accurate, high-frequency data feeds, including asset prices, with updates at every block (roughly every 1.8 seconds).

The FTSO assigns data provision directly to Flare’s validators who submit data feeds that are validated and aggregated on-chain, for accuracy and security. A verifiable randomness algorithm selects providers for each block to ensure unbiased, manipulation-resistant selection.

The process is stake-weighted, meaning providers with larger stakes have a higher probability of being chosen. This maintains fairness by aligning selection chances with each provider’s level of commitment and discourages collusion.

Approximately 67% of Flare’s circulating token supply, FLR, is either staked or delegated, securing the network, and giving Flare’s oracles the same security guarantees as the blockchain itself.

How the FTSO maintains data integrity

The FTSO uses an incentivized participation model where FLR holders delegate their tokens to trusted data providers, who earn rewards based on submission accuracy. The aim is to incentivize data providers to deliver precise, decentralized data and impose a strict economic cost for misbehavior, while rewarding FLR holders who support reliable providers.

To prevent manipulation, the network uses a cryptographic commit-reveal process: providers commit to data values every 90 seconds and reveal them later.

During market volatility, the system increases the number of data providers to maintain timely, accurate updates.

What makes the FTSO unique?

Unlike traditional oracles, which sit outside of the blockchains they serve, the FTSO is embedded directly within Flare’s blockchain, which has several advantages:

• 🛡️Built-in security: Using validators as data providers enables the FTSO to inherit Flare’s security model, ensuring data feeds are as secure and reliable as the network itself.
• 💸Cost-free feeds: Unlike oracles which charge for data feeds, the FTSO provides most feeds at no cost, making it more accessible to developers.
• ⚡Rapid data access: Updating with each Flare block, the FTSO ensures close to real-time data availability for applications that require high-frequency data.

How will the FTSO evolve?

The FTSO is designed to drive data-intensive applications from DeFi to AI and gaming. In the future, Flare plans to support even shorter update intervals and additional data sets. With FTSOv2, Flare’s primary oracle now delivers faster, frequent updates, allowing platforms like Kinetic to manage loans, liquidations, and collateral swaps in near real-time and enabling decentralized exchanges like SparkDEX to power advanced financial instruments.

High-frequency data enables accurate risk management and settlement, expanding possibilities in DeFi and sectors such as lending, options, cross-chain transactions, and real-world asset integration. By embedding decentralized data provision into its network, Flare supports more responsive, secure, and data-intensive decentralized applications (dapps) that are set on pushing the boundaries of blockchain applications.