What is Tellor (TRB) and how does it work?

Tellor is a decentralized oracle service native to both Ethereum and Polygon. The protocol enables “isolated” smart contracts/dApps to connect to valuable off-chain data streams tracking everything from basic asset pricing information to interest rates, even sports betting lines.

Tellor’s Tributes token, or TRB, is the protocol’s native currency. It’s a utility/governance token that serves as a reward for data providers, giving holders the right to vote on future changes to the protocol, according to CoinGecko.

Those who wish to request data via Tellor must first provide monetary payment (referred to as a tip) to the network. Queries with the largest tips are generally executed first by the protocol’s global network of data providers who work/compete to supply data for the monetary reward put forth by the requester.

To supply data to the network, providers must stake a minimum of 100 TRB. This deposit acts as a security blanket and can be cut in the event the provider contributes inaccurate data.

In November of 2021, the protocol launched TellorX, an upgrade that worked to address the project’s scalability limitations by transitioning Tellor to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

Tellor expanded its functionality to the Polygon ecosystem in January of 2022.