Pyth is an oracle service that provides low-latency pricing data to blockchains. It has recently distributed its new PYTH governance tokens to more than 90,000 crypto wallets in November. The token was introduced as a way to decentralize Pyth’s governance process, which allows token-holders to vote on how the platform evolves.
Pyth has recently announced a “strategic fundraising” round, which has attracted some of the biggest players in the crypto industry, including venture firms and market makers. The Pyth Data Association, a Swiss non-profit focused on Pyth development, has raised funds from crypto veterans, including Castle Island Ventures, Multicoin Capital, Wintermute Ventures, Borderless Capital, CMT Digital, Bodhi Ventures, Distributed Global, and Delphi Digital.
The new partners have all received allotments of PYTH tokens, which they can use to influence how the platform develops moving forward. The Data Association’s new partners are excited about being able to shape the direction of Pyth and drive this from a truly decentralized perspective.
What is the history of Pyth Oracle Network?
Pyth launched on the Solana blockchain in 2021 and has since expanded to 45 blockchains. According to Michael Cahill, the CEO of Pyth developer Duoro Labs and a director of the Pyth Data Association, Pyth currently services 25% of all applications that use oracles. Oracles are critical pieces of blockchain infrastructure that shepherd real-world data onto blockchains.
Pyth sources its data directly from first-party financial firms, rather than third parties, giving the protocol a leg up in terms of overall speed. This direct-from-the-source data gathering, combined with other elements of Pyth’s architecture, is designed to give the protocol a key differentiator that could help Pyth eat away at Chainlink’s dominant market position.
Pyth was incubated by Jump Crypto and spun out into an independent entity mid-year with the establishment of Duoro Labs, which is currently exclusively focused on the development of the Pyth protocol.
