Chainlink, a prominent blockchain oracle network, is joining forces with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a major US Fortune 500 corporation. This collaboration aims to integrate foreign exchange (FX) and precious metals data onto the blockchain.
Announced this Monday, the partnership involves integrating ICE’s Consolidated Feed, a comprehensive source of market data from over 300 exchanges and marketplaces worldwide, into Chainlink Data Streams. These streams power numerous decentralized applications (DApps).
Chainlink reports that its data feeds currently support more than 2,000 DApps and are also utilized by significant financial institutions. This information is crucial for operations within tokenized environments.
This alliance represents a significant advance in bridging the gap between conventional financial market infrastructure and the burgeoning blockchain space.
Boosting DeFi Platform Rate Accuracy
By incorporating ICE’s pricing information, Chainlink plans to greatly improve the accuracy and dependability of rates used by decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. This also benefits asset managers and banks developing blockchain-based products.
The collaboration is expected to fuel the growth of institutional-grade blockchain applications. These applications demand tamper-proof, low-latency market data, a key requirement for automated settlements and high-value transactions.
Maurisa Baumann, Vice President at ICE for Global Data Delivery Platforms, emphasized that working with Chainlink marks “an important step in growing the global blockchain economy.” She noted that this collaboration ensures that markets built on the blockchain maintain a similar level of reliability and transparency found in traditional capital markets.
Fernando Vazquez, President of Capital Markets at Chainlink Labs, stated that the partnership signifies a move toward “a unified, globally accessible onchain financial system.” He believes this positions blockchain infrastructure to enable the tokenization of trillions of dollars worth of assets. Vazquez highlighted Chainlink’s commitment to bringing institutional-grade standards to the DeFi ecosystem.
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The Continued Surge of Tokenized Real-World Assets (RWAs)
This announcement coincides with the increasing demand for tokenized real-world assets. Earlier this year, Standard Chartered projected that the RWA market could potentially exceed $30 trillion by the year 2034.
According to data from RWA.xyz, a data tracking platform, total RWAs on the blockchain currently stand at approximately $25.7 billion, while stablecoins represent over $260 billion at the time of this report.
The data also reveals that the number of asset holders for RWAs has surpassed 347,000, showing a 13.97% increase in the past 30 days. Similarly, stablecoin holders exceed 188 million, reflecting a 2.82% growth in the same period.
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