Brief description
I believe everyone is very familiar with RedStone, a cross-chain data oracle technology that provides fast and cost-effective data access, a complete historical audit trail, and a decentralized dispute mechanism backed by insurance, providing users with recourse in the event of inaccurate data provision.
In the four days after TGE was launched on Binance, the price soared from the opening price of around US$0.2-0.4 to US$1.45, which also made people see the usefulness of the oracle protocol.
But today I need to introduce you to another oracle protocol: Switchboard .
The article will make some comparisons between RedStone and Switchboard.
1. Introduction: Do you know the oracle protocol?
1.1 Why do we need an oracle?
The blockchain is a closed system, and smart contracts cannot directly obtain data outside the chain. However, many DeFi or DApp applications require real-time data, such as:
The current price of a token (e.g. BTC/USD)
Random number generation (for blockchain game draws, etc.)
Real-life events such as game results, weather, etc.
The oracle protocol is like an information bridge that securely captures data from the off-chain world and sends it to the chain for smart contracts to call.
1.2 Simple Analogy: What is it like?
Imagine you are playing an on-chain price guessing game, the rules are:
Players are betting on whether BTC will exceed $100,000 tomorrow.
The game’s smart contract requires a true, trusted source of prices, otherwise it is vulnerable to attack or cheating.
At this time, you can use Switchboard as a price oracle, get the real price from Coingecko or Binance, and feed it to the on-chain contract to determine who wins.
1.3 Switchboard basic information:
Switchboard is a permissionless, customizable, multi-chain oracle protocol for universal data feeds and verifiable randomness. By allowing anyone to push any form of data, regardless of the data type, it provides a one-stop service for users and helps drive the development of the next generation of decentralized applications.
Switchboard receives $11 million in seed and Series A funding
2. What can Switchboard do for you?
2.1 Example of usage scenarios
DeFi platform price feeds (such as determining liquidation lines in decentralized lending)
Chain game lottery random number (based on VRF random number to provide fairness)
Insurance or prediction markets (e.g. weather results, sports scores)
2.2 Developer Perspective
Switchboard provides SDK and API
Customizable configuration of price source, update frequency, threshold, etc.
Supports deployment of Function scripts as computing logic
Open source components, support local deployment or testnet simulation
2.3 Multi-chain Ecosystem
Switchboard supports multiple chains, including:
Solana, Sui, Aptos, Starknet, NEAR
We are also supporting more L2s, so if your DApp is deployed on these chains, you can use Switchboard natively.
Switchboard currently supports multiple chain ecosystems
2.4 Summary in one sentence
In general, Switchboard can help you safely and verifiably introduce real data from the off-chain world (prices, weather, scores, random numbers, etc.) into your smart contracts. It also allows you to customize price feed rules, deploy logic scripts, and implement automatic decision-making on the chain.
3. Comparison between Switchboard and RedStone
3.1 Protocol Design Comparison
For Switchboard, the emphasis is on customization + security + multi-chain VRF support, which is suitable for developers to do complex logic. For RedStone, the emphasis is on modularity + extreme gas optimization + data flow tightly coupled with contracts, which is suitable for high-performance dApps.
Comparison of TVS and supported protocols
Currently, RedStone supports 71 protocols with a TVS of US$5.2 billion, while Switchboard supports 19 protocols with a TVS of nearly US$1.8 billion. Therefore, it is not difficult to see that Switchboard actually has greater potential, and since 2024, Switchboards market share has been growing.
3.2 Advantages of Switchboard
If you want to build a DeFi protocol (paying more attention to price accuracy and security), run a GameFi or NFT platform (requiring random fair draws), or deploy on a non-EVM chain (such as Sui, Aptos, etc.), you can safely choose Switchboard first, because in these aspects, Switchboards performance is better than RedStone, and Switchboards native support for multiple chains is very friendly.
If you need to read more, you can go directly to the Switchboard documentation: https://docs.switchboard.xyz/
4. How to participate in Switchboard?
4.1 Participate in Fragmetric staking (FragSOL’s TVL is as high as $260 million)
Visit the website: https://app.fragmetric.xyz/restake/
Go to the referral panel: https://app.fragmetric.xyz/rewards/referral/ and enter the referral code: EFC 2 PZ to get more points.
Currently, Switchboard maintains a very friendly cooperation with Fragmetric, which is a native staking protocol on Solana and is about to issue tokens. On the Fragmetric panel, there is also a settlement reward panel about Switchboard.
Recently, Fragmetric also collected the Solana addresses of active community members in Switchboard’s Discord, most likely for NFT rewards.
Fragmetric collects Solana addresses of active members in Switchboard’s Discord
4.2 Participate in official zealy tasks
Visit the website: https://zealy.io/cw/switchboard
Just participate in zealys tasks. The top 1,000 players will receive rewards. The rewards for subsequent rankings may increase, but it is currently unknown.
4.3 Join the Switchboard official Discord and become active to gain status
Visit: https://discord.gg/xnssgyWw7J
After entering Discord, being more active can earn you a special Discord identity, which may become an airdrop certificate or benefit in the future. (For example, this time, members with special identities have the opportunity to fill in Fragmetric to collect Solana address rewards)
4.4 Follow the official, foundation and Chinese X accounts to get the latest updates
Official X account: https://x.com/switchboardxyz
Foundation X account: https://x.com/SwitchboardFDN
Community Chinese X account: https://x.com/Switchboard_CN
V. Conclusion
Both RedStone and Switchboard are building trusted data bridges for the blockchain world, but they focus on different aspects. RedStone is suitable for DeFi projects that pursue extreme performance and cost control, while Switchboard is becoming a new choice for more projects with its strong scalability, multi-chain compatibility and developer friendliness.
Especially after TGE, RedStone has received much attention, while Switchboard is quietly accumulating strength and cannot be ignored. Whether you are a developer or an early user, now is a good time to understand and participate in Switchboard.
The battle for future oracles has just begun.
And I, kkmoat, stand on Switchboards side with my real name.
If this article is helpful for your research or any other aspect, I hope you can follow my Medium account so that you can receive my new articles in your email at any time. Of course, you can also follow my YouTube and X accounts.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kkmoat
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