Bitcoin ecosystem's popularity this year has been extraordinary. From the Rune Protocol to Layer2 solutions, new concepts are emerging endlessly, and many participants are involved. But here’s the question — where do the price data for these Bitcoin DeFi projects, staking protocols, and lending platforms come from? Who is providing support behind the scenes?

This is not a small issue. Imagine a lending platform that doesn’t know Bitcoin’s real-time price — how dare it lend to users? If a derivatives exchange experiences a delay of ten minutes or more in market data, would anyone still dare to trade? Trustworthy and timely data sources are the infrastructure of the entire ecosystem.

For this reason, oracles are becoming increasingly important in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Previously, Bitcoin was just a store of value, and no one needed real-time data feeds. But that’s no longer the case. Layer2 platforms like Stacks and Merlin can run smart contracts, and ecosystem players want to do more — collateralize Bitcoin to mint stablecoins, trade Bitcoin derivatives, cross-chain asset interactions… each of these relies on reliable oracles.

Of course, this space isn’t without competition. Chainlink, as an established oracle provider, has been deeply involved for years, accumulating a large user base and ecosystem support. But the uniqueness of the Bitcoin ecosystem — with many small tokens, varying liquidity, and rapid project iteration — has raised new requirements for oracles.

The opportunity for new entrants lies in providing more specialized and flexible data services tailored to the unique needs of the Bitcoin ecosystem. The key still depends on technological strength and the ability to implement within the ecosystem.