On March 25, the oracle service platform Chronicle announced the completion of a $12 million seed round financing, led by Strobe (formerly Blocktower Venture Capital), with follow-on investments from Brevan Howard, 6th Man Ventures, and others. On the surface, this seems like just another ordinary financing news, but a deeper look reveals that Chronicle's story is far more exciting than it appears.
Chronicle is not a newcomer in the oracle space but an industry veteran deeply engaged in on-chain data verification and the RWA (Real World Assets) track. It originally started within the MakerDAO ecosystem and has undergone both technical and market tests, evolving into an independent decentralized oracle network that provides high transparency data support for DeFi, RWA, and TradFi institutions. This financing also signifies Chronicle's formal step onto a larger stage.
Basic Overview
As an important data provider in the Web3 ecosystem, Chronicle has built a complete decentralized data infrastructure based on years of technical accumulation, with core technologies including:
- Chronicle Dashboard: Provides end-to-end data verifiability, ensuring users can trace data sources and enhance transparency. Its verification network consists of 22 decentralized nodes, including industry-renowned participants like Infura and Etherscan. This distributed architecture avoids single points of failure while enhancing data reliability through multi-party verification.
- Scribe: Optimizes data update efficiency and cost by introducing Schnorr signature aggregation technology. It addresses the long signature verification time and high Gas fees in traditional oracle systems, allowing Chronicle to provide high-quality data services at lower operational costs.
- Verified Asset: An oracle solution designed by Chronicle for the RWA track, focusing on securely and efficiently bringing the price and status data of off-chain assets (such as U.S. Treasury bonds, real estate data, etc.) on-chain. It is not only a technical tool but also a key link in the integration of DeFi and TradFi (traditional finance).
These technologies are widely used in the Sky ecosystem and provide data support for Web3 projects such as M^0 (focused on currency protocols), Centrifuge (asset tokenization platform), Superstate (on-chain investment tools), and Securitize (security tokenization), further highlighting Chronicle's competitiveness in cross-ecosystem data services.
Chronicle's team is equally experienced, with founder Niklas Kunkel having developed early oracle solutions within the MakerDAO ecosystem as early as 2017 and leading key projects like OasisDEX and DSProxy. Growth lead Jen Senhaji also previously handled market expansion for MakerDAO, giving Chronicle a dual advantage in technology and market.
The $12 million from this round of financing will primarily be used for product development and technological innovation. Chronicle plans to launch new products in the next 12 to 18 months to promote the development of DeFi and RWA sectors.
From a Single Ecosystem to Diverse Cooperation
The relationship between Chronicle and Sky Protocol is both a microcosm of the modular evolution of the MakerDAO ecosystem and a reflection of the trend towards independence in Web3 oracles.
Initially, Chronicle served merely as an oracle component within the MakerDAO system, responsible for providing price data support for SAI (the predecessor of DAI). At that time, Chronicle's role was relatively singular, mainly serving the stablecoin operations within MakerDAO and failing to form independent market competitiveness. However, with the rapid development of the DeFi ecosystem, single-ecosystem oracle solutions could no longer meet industry demands.
As MakerDAO moved towards modularization, Chronicle was gradually granted greater independence, especially after its official transformation into Chronicle Labs in 2023, no longer limited to the Maker ecosystem but beginning to provide data services for the entire DeFi and RWA tracks.
This transformation does not mean Chronicle is parting ways with Sky; on the contrary, their cooperation model can become more diversified. This diversification is reflected not only in the depth of technical support but also in the breadth of collaboration forms. For instance, as independent communities, they can share resources and collaborate ecologically; Chronicle's decentralized node network can provide Sky users with a more transparent data verification experience, while Sky's stablecoin traffic can also benefit Chronicle, enhancing its influence in the DeFi community. This "you have me, I have you" diversification model has evolved the relationship between Chronicle and Sky from a singular dependency into a more resilient and creative partnership.
The Significance of Chronicle's Independence
Chronicle's independence is closely related to Rune Christensen's "Endgame" plan proposed in 2022. This plan promotes the evolution of the MakerDAO ecosystem through modular architecture, decentralized governance, and RWA integration, and Chronicle's independence is a key step in this strategy.
By separating the oracle function, Sky can focus on stablecoin and governance optimization, avoiding resource duplication. Chronicle can independently expand its market and open external revenue sources, reducing the maintenance burden on the Sky ecosystem, with clearer division of labor between the two.
Independence also brings changes in governance and market strategy. Chronicle is no longer constrained by the governance framework of MakerDAO or Sky, allowing it to autonomously set development paths, such as connecting with more L2 networks (like Arbitrum, Optimism) or exploring deep cooperation with TradFi institutions. In the future, it may further expand into decentralized data markets, on-chain identity verification, and even AI integration with blockchain data, becoming a core pillar of Web3 data infrastructure.
Moreover, Chronicle's independence makes it easier to attract external capital; in this round of financing, 71% of the funds came from U.S. investment institutions. The involvement of these institutions not only brings financial support but also provides important backing for Chronicle's future market expansion, regulatory compliance, and institutional cooperation. Notably, the inclusion of Brevan Howard means Chronicle has the opportunity to open more collaboration channels with traditional financial institutions, further promoting the on-chain integration of RWA assets and providing more transparent and compliant on-chain data support for the fusion of DeFi and TradFi. It is worth mentioning that while the funds did not directly flow into Sky, they may indirectly benefit the Sky ecosystem.
Of course, Chronicle, as an independent entity, also means that its development direction is more determined by the market rather than being directly influenced by Rune or Sky. It may further expand its service scope to more blockchain ecosystems, rather than solely relying on Sky. For Sky, this means more collaboration opportunities but also requires adapting to Chronicle's broader market positioning.
How Can Ordinary Users Participate in the Chronicle Ecosystem?
Ordinary users can obtain Chronicle-related points through the Sky ecosystem, which may be part of Chronicle's future incentive mechanism. Specific participation methods include:
- Through Sky.money
Visit sky.money and use USDS to participate in staking or liquidity provision.
Chronicle points may be related to these operations, with specific rules to be disclosed by the official team.
- Through Spark.fi
Deposit USDS or participate in lending on the Spark Protocol.
The community speculates that Chronicle points may be linked to TVL contributions, and the level of participation may affect future rewards.
- Follow Official Updates
Follow Chronicle's official X account (@ChronicleLabs) and Discord for the latest information.
Stay updated on the changes in the points mechanism and incentive plans.
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