As an [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/)-based [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20) token, Chainlink is secured by the proof-of-stake ([PoS](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos)) consensus mechanism. Unlike the proof-of-work ([PoW](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-work-pow)) consensus utilized by Bitocin, PoS relies on the amount of staked tokens for selecting node validators. PoS protocols were created with the idea to battle the vast power consumption required by PoW systems. PoS models are becoming increasingly popular as they need less electrical power and are easily scalable. While PoW has proven itself a reliable consensus mechanism, Ethereum and all other ERC-20 tokens have been growing rapidly and setting the trend in the space.

During the initial coin offering ([ICO](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/initial-coin-offering-ico)) for LINK in September 2017, Chainlink announced a total and maximum supply of 1,000,000,000 LINK tokens. The current supply is about 453,509,553 LINK tokens, or about 45% of the total supply, as of end-September 2021. The Chainlink price at ICO was $0.11 and a total of 350 million LINK tokens were sold. This represents an over 200X from the ICO price to Chainlink price today. Chainlink price experienced a massive bull run in the period around mid-2019 to mid-2020. Chainlink bulls were colloquially referred to as “LINK Marines,'' becoming a well-known meme in the crypto community. Chainlink price reached an all-time high of $52.88 on May 9, 2021, on the back of an overall crypto market rally, as well as ongoing developments in the Chainlink ecosystem. According to the [ICO documentation](https://link.smartcontract.com/whitepaper), 35% of the total token supply will go towards node operators and the incentivization of the ecosystem. Another 35% of LINK tokens were distributed during public sale events. Lastly, the remaining 30% of the total token supply was directed towards the company for the continued development of the Chainlink ecosystem and network.

At present, Chainlink has been criticized for its dependence on a limited number of trusted nodes despite its efforts to be as decentralized as possible. However, LINK staking intends to remove this concern. LINK staking will introduce rewards and penalties to incentivize the proper operation of the Chainlink oracle network. It will also enhance the ability of node operators to receive tasks and earn fees within the Chainlink network. In this system, participants will lock up their LINK tokens as collateral. This [collateral](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/collateral) can be taxed or “slashed” if a node misreports data. The LINK tokens taxed from dishonest validators will be redistributed as earnings to honest validators. The developers of Chainlink hope that the introduction of this crypto-economic security should make the cost of attacking the network's price oracle greater than the potential profits an attack would generate. This is a similar gamification strategy that blockchain networks, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, depend on. Similarly, LINK holders that do not run their own node can participate in staking by delegating their tokens to a trusted node operator. Chainlink developers estimate that the staking program will offer a 5% return initially from a combination of emissions from the Treasury and fees paid by users of Chainlink's data feeds, and it will ultimately rely on only fees earned by the network. The participation of community members in staking will further incentivize node operators to remain honest. Participants will be able to choose where to delegate their stake through reputation scores given to node operators that consistently provide valid data feeds.

Chainlink is one of the first networks to allow the integration of off-chain data into smart contracts. With many trusted partners, Chainlink is one of the major players in the data processing field. Due to the integration of off-chain data, Chainlink has attracted the attention of numerous trusted data providers, including Brave New Coin, Alpha Vantage and Huobi. Data providers can sell access to data directly to Chainlink, thus monetizing the information they have. As a decentralized network, Chainlink allows users to become node operators and earn revenue by running critical data infrastructure required for blockchains’ success. Chainlink uses a large collection of node operators to collectively power a wide range of decentralized Price Feed oracle networks live in-production, which currently secure billions in value for leading DeFi applications like [Synthetix](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/synthetix-network-token/), [Aave](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/aave/), [Compound](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/compound/) and more.

[Sergey Nazarov](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergeydnazarov/) is a co-founder and CEO at Chainlink Labs. He graduated with a degree in business administration from New York University, with a focus on philosophy and administration. His professional career began as a teaching fellow at NYU Stern School of Business. In 2009, Nazarov co-founded ExistLocal, a peer-to-peer marketplace for authentic local experiences. In 2014, he also co-founded CryptaMail, a completely decentralized, blockchain-based email service. In 2014, Nazarov teamed up with [Steve Ellis](https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveellis0606/) and launched SmartContract, a platform that brings smart contracts to life by connecting them to external data and widely accepted bank payments. SmartContract was one of the entrepreneurial ventures that led Sergey Nazarov to the founding of Chainlink. Steve Ellis graduated with a degree in computer science from New York University in 2010. Right after graduating, he became a software engineer at Pivotal Labs. In 2014, he co-founded the Secure Asset Exchange, a company facilitating easy web access to a decentralized asset exchange.

Founded in 2017, Chainlink is a [blockchain](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/blockchain) abstraction layer that enables universally connected [smart contracts](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract). Through a decentralized [oracle](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/oracles) network, Chainlink allows blockchains to securely interact with external data feeds, events and payment methods, providing the critical off-chain information needed by complex smart contracts to become the dominant form of digital agreement. The Chainlink Network is driven by a large open-source community of data providers, [node](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/node) operators, smart contract developers, researchers, security auditors and more. The company focuses on ensuring that decentralized participation is guaranteed for all node operators and users looking to contribute to the network. To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of [Chainlink](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-chainlink).