Encrypted Oracle

A foundational technique where a private key or decryption capability is split among multiple oracle nodes using schemes like Shamir's Secret Sharing. Data is encrypted at the source and can only be decrypted once a predefined threshold of nodes (e.g., 5 out of 9) collaborate. This prevents any single node from accessing or manipulating the raw data, ensuring confidentiality and fault tolerance. It's the core mechanism behind networks like DECO and Town Crier.

Used to cryptographically prove the validity of data or computations without revealing the underlying data itself. An oracle can attest that data meets certain conditions (e.g., "a user's balance is > X") by generating a zk-SNARK or zk-STARK proof. The smart contract verifies only the proof, never seeing the sensitive inputs. This is critical for privacy-preserving DeFi and identity verification, enabling use of verified private data on a public ledger.

Hardware-based isolation using secure enclaves like Intel SGX or AMD SEV. Oracle nodes run their data-fetching logic inside a TEE, which guarantees confidentiality and integrity of the execution. The data is decrypted, processed, and signed inside the enclave, invisible even to the node operator. The resulting attestation (a remote attestation proof) allows the blockchain to verify the computation originated from a genuine, uncompromised TEE.

A protocol where multiple oracle nodes jointly compute a function over their private inputs without revealing those inputs to each other. For encrypted oracles, nodes can collectively decrypt encrypted data or compute a result (like an average price) where no single node sees the complete dataset. This distributes trust and eliminates single points of failure, making data tampering extremely difficult without collusion of a majority of participants.

A two-phase protocol used in decentralized oracle networks to prevent front-running and data manipulation. In the commit phase, each oracle node submits a cryptographic commitment (e.g., a hash) of its data point. After all commitments are locked in, the reveal phase begins, where nodes reveal their actual data. The contract verifies the reveals match the commitments. This ensures data is submitted independently and cannot be changed based on others' submissions.

An advanced cryptographic method that allows computations to be performed directly on encrypted data, producing an encrypted result which, when decrypted, matches the result of operations on the plaintext. While computationally intensive, it represents the ideal for encrypted oracles: data never needs to be decrypted by the oracle nodes themselves. Current implementations are limited to specific operations, but active research aims to make fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) practical for blockchain oracles.

Enables confidential trading strategies and risk management by providing price feeds and market data to smart contracts in encrypted form. This prevents front-running and protects proprietary trading logic. Key applications include:

• Dark pools where order sizes and prices remain hidden until execution.
• Collateral verification for private loans without revealing the exact asset value.
• Stop-loss orders that are not visible to the public mempool.

A serverless developer platform that allows smart contracts to request data from any API and perform custom computation using a decentralized oracle network. It enables trust-minimized connections to web2 systems and can be used to fetch encrypted data for on-chain processing.

• Supports HTTP GET/POST requests to any public API.
• Executes JavaScript code within a secure, isolated environment.
• Leverages the same decentralized oracle network as Chainlink Data Feeds for reliability.

A research protocol for privacy-preserving oracles that allows a user to prove specific facts about their web-based data without revealing the data itself. It uses zero-knowledge proofs and TLS notaries.

• Proves statements like "my credit score is >700" without revealing the score.
• Enables undercollateralized lending and KYC/AML checks with privacy.
• Data is sourced directly from the original website with cryptographic proof.

An early academic prototype for an authenticated data feed oracle that leveraged Intel SGX (Software Guard Extensions) trusted execution environments. It was a foundational concept for confidential computation in oracles.

• Guaranteed data authenticity and confidentiality using hardware-based enclaves.
• Acted as a bridge between HTTPS-enabled websites and smart contracts.
• Inspired later production systems focusing on TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) oracle designs.

While not exclusively for encrypted data, API3's Airnode architecture and Quantum Random Number Generation (QRNG) service demonstrate oracle design for secure, first-party data delivery. QRNG provides verifiably random numbers, a critical input for many cryptographic and gaming applications.

• First-party oracles remove intermediary layers for enhanced security.
• QRNG uses quantum physical processes as an entropy source.
• Data provenance and integrity are cryptographically verifiable.

A Decryption Oracle is a core component of an Encrypted Oracle system. It is a secure, off-chain service that receives encrypted data requests from a smart contract, decrypts them using a private key, fetches the requested data, and returns an encrypted response. This process keeps the request's intent private on-chain.

• Purpose: Enables confidential queries to APIs and data sources.
• Architecture: Typically part of a larger Decentralized Oracle Network (DON) for reliability and trust minimization.