Chainlink
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 67 → 96. Problems weighed by who is responsible: concerns that are not fraud −9.6, problems around the subject, caused by others −4; legitimacy credit well known and widely used +25, long-running +10; fact-check adjustments (−5) now shown as page reliability, not in the score. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| Concerns that are not fraud | -9.6 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -4 |
| Well known and widely used | +25 |
| Long-running | +10 |
| Sum | 86 |
Score: 96/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
Chainlink is a decentralized blockchain oracle network founded in 2017 by Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis, with Cornell University professor Ari Juels co-authoring the whitepaper. The protocol provides smart contracts with tamper-resistant access to off-chain data and computation, holding an estimated 69–70% share of the oracle market and enabling over $26 trillion in cumulative transaction value as of 2025. No regulatory actions have been filed against Chainlink or its parent entity, Chainlink Labs; the primary documented concerns center on token-supply centralization and a 2020 campaign by an anonymous entity publishing unverified fraud allegations that were subsequently discredited.
On-chain control
Powered by HeliusControl is well guarded
What cost points
- Upgrade authority is an unrecognized PDA −10GoFoFfEDgALWRTw5dSY3VZQSwbFpvBEhDv1sFAWzYpbf is a program-derived address, but not a Squads vault. It may be governance or a custom program.How to fix: Confirm who controls this address. Watchtower can grade the threshold and time lock only when the authority is a Squads vault.
In place
- Deployed bytecode is a verified build
- No durable nonce accounts in use
Not counted in the grade: No admin signer seen yet.
Last checked 8 Nov 2026Who can change a program's code and settings, or a token's supply and holders' balances, and how well that power is guarded: upgrade keys, multisig thresholds, time locks, admin keys, verified builds, mint and freeze authority and token controls, graded A to F by Helius Watchtower and checked weekly. A good grade means the keys are guarded, not that the team is trustworthy. It does not change the trust score. Each grade is reviewed by an editor before it is shown. See every graded program and token.
Connected Entities
8 entities · 60 linked investigations- Ethereum→mentioned with→Coinbase(60%)
- wallet drainers→mentioned with→Ethereum(70%)
- Synthetix→mentioned with→Chainlink(70%)
- Synthetix→mentioned with→Ethereum(80%)
- Chainlink→mentioned with→Nexo(70%)
- Chainlink→mentioned with→Ethereum(65%)
- Chainlink→mentioned with→Coinbase(65%)
- Chainlink→mentioned with→Synthetix(60%)
- Chainlink→mentioned with→wallet drainers(80%)
- Chainlink→mentioned with→Moonwell Lending(80%)
- + 6 more
Timeline(14 events)
September 2014
Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis co-found SmartContract.com, the predecessor entity to Chainlink.
Chainlink Block StoriesJune 2017
Nazarov, Ellis, and Cornell professor Ari Juels publish the Chainlink whitepaper.
Chainlink Wikipedia21 July 2017
Chainlink ICO opens. Presale raises $29M; public sale raises $3M; total $32M raised, 350M LINK distributed.
CoinCodex ICO record17 July 2020
Anonymous entity 'Zeus Capital' publishes 66-page short attack report titled 'The Chainlink Fraud Exposed,' predicting 99% price decline. Report later found to contain no citations or working links.
CoinTelegraphJuly 2020
Community investigation links Zeus Capital website source code to Nexo Finance Typeform infrastructure. Nexo denies involvement.
CoinTelegraphJuly 2023
Chainlink CCIP (Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol) launches on mainnet, initially supporting a small set of chains.
Chainlink CCIP documentation28 November 2023
Chainlink Staking v0.2 launches with a 45M LINK pool, unbonding mechanism, and slashing for node operators.
Chainlink Blog2024
All LINK token unlock schedules complete; entire 1 billion LINK supply is fully vested.
Chainlink Tokenomics review — Tesseract AcademyOctober 2024
At Sibos 2024, Chainlink and SWIFT demonstrate pre-production solution for bank-to-blockchain connectivity using SWIFT messaging standards.
Chainlink BlogNovember 2025
Chainlink oracle malfunction misprices a token at $5.8M (actual value ~$0.02); attacker exploits Moonwell lending protocol for approximately $1M across seven transactions.
AMBCrypto11 December 2025
Coinbase adopts Chainlink CCIP as the sole bridge for approximately $7 billion in wrapped tokens across chains.
CoinDesk12 May 2026
DTCC taps Chainlink for its tokenized collateral platform, targeting a Q4 2026 launch.
CoinDeskDecision Log
- slot 455536464 · hash 3EGJnw11max28SJRTQgrbWKs4uK1LeEbeLqESFWfsAEi
- slot 455369919 · hash 8vKirN9f46gkyUMJEJ1HJtwMQGCqLxYyYeiZtrjL8DMK
- slot 424136289 · hash BnuRLnMSZ57vxk7Ntp7mBwgXzvmQfib7K4PKfQbGhTxp
- slot 424136284 · hash 3uzNt1XXXPtLzY8ay593wFXAZTM7xiFqXBKhQ2GLXiJX
- slot 419629082 · hash 6gQPuHboasJ1jgDu3xAJLXHoTPwRasokZJosokPhdc3d
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (5 decisions). 17 of 19 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 5/12/2026, 10:04:54 PM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:49:50 PM
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