A $5 million liquidation storm originated from a trivial 2-second delay. This is not a hypothetical scenario but a real tragedy that unfolded last year. At that moment, the entire industry suddenly woke up: those intricate smart contract codes might have been teetering on quicksand all along.

I once naively thought that data issues should be the least of blockchain's concerns. Until I saw a lending platform, during a sharp price fluctuation, mistakenly liquidate a bunch of healthy positions due to oracle data lag. That moment made me realize—no matter how perfect the code logic is, if the data source itself is flawed, it can be the fuse to disaster.

**The Truth About Oracles: Most Applications Are Basically "Naked"**

Did you know? Currently, most blockchain applications rely on data sources that are essentially unprotected.

Imagine this scenario: a DeFi protocol looks incredibly strong, with smart contracts audited three times, a top-notch UI experience, and a team with a shining resume. But how does it get ETH prices? Maybe just a centralized API. If someone attacks or manipulates this API, the entire protocol could collapse instantly. Sounds terrifying? Such incidents happen every day.

**From Speed Competition to Authenticity Competition**

What are traditional oracles competing on? Speed—who can push the price from exchanges onto the chain faster. But that’s not the real key. The true focus should be on the "authenticity" and "resistance to manipulation" of the data.