With a financing of US$12 million, how effective is Chronicle after breaking away from the "mothership" Maker?

On March 25, oracle service platform Chronicle announced that it had completed a $12 million seed round of financing, led by Strobe (former Blocktower Venture Capital), followed by Brevan Howard, 6th Man Ventures and other institutions. On the surface, this seems like just a normal financing news, but after getting a deeper look, you will find that Chronicle’s story is far more exciting than it seems.

Chronicle is not a new oracle player, but an industry veteran who has deepened on-chain data verification and RWA track. It first started in the MakerDAO ecosystem, experienced the dual test of technology and market, and has now developed into an independent decentralized oracle network, providing high-transparency data support for DeFi, RWA and TradFi institutions. This financing also means that Chronicle has officially moved to a bigger stage.

Basic Overview

As an important data provider of the Web3 ecosystem, Chronicle has built a complete decentralized data infrastructure based on years of technological accumulation, and its core technologies include:

• Chronicle Dashboard: Provides end-to-end data verability, ensuring that users can trace data sources and improve transparency. Its verification network consists of 22 decentralized nodes, including industry-renowned players such as Infura and Etherscan. This distributed architecture avoids single point of failure and enhances data reliability through multi-party verification.
• Scribe: By introducing Schnorr signature aggregation technology, the efficiency and cost of data updates are optimized. It solves the problem of long and high gas costs in traditional oracle systems, allowing Chronicle to provide high-quality data services at lower operating costs.
• Verified Asset: It is an oracle solution designed by Chronicle for the RWA (real world asset) track, focusing on introducing off-chain assets (such as US Treasury, real estate data, etc.) to the chain safely and efficiently. It is not only a technical tool, but also a key link for the integration of DeFi and TradFi (traditional finance).

These technologies are not only widely used in the Sky ecosystem, but also provide data support for Web3 projects such as M^0 (focusing on currency protocols), Centrifuge (asset tokenization platform), Superstate (on-chain investment tool), and Securitize (security tokenization), further demonstrating Chronicle's competitiveness in the field of cross-ecological data services.

Chronicle's team is also experienced. Founder Niklas Kunkel developed early oracle solutions in the MakerDAO ecosystem as early as 2017 and led key projects such as OasisDEX and DSProxy. Jen Senhaji, the head of growth, was also responsible for the market expansion of MakerDAO, which gave Chronicle dual advantages in technology and market.

The US$12 million in this round of financing will be mainly used for product research and development and technological innovation. Chronicle plans to launch new products in the next 12 to 18 months to drive development in the DeFi and RWA sectors.

From a single ecology to diversified cooperation

The relationship between Chronicle and Sky Protocol is not only a microcosm of the modular evolution of MakerDAO ecosystem, but also a trend of independent Web3 oracle.

Initially, Chronicle was only a oracle component in the MakerDAO system, responsible for providing price data support for SAI (predecessor of DAI). At that time, Chronicle's role was relatively single, mainly serving the operation of stablecoins within MakerDAO, but failed to form independent market competitiveness. However, with the rapid development of the DeFi ecosystem, the oracle solution of a single ecosystem can no longer meet the needs of the industry.

As MakerDAO moves towards modularization, Chronicle is gradually given greater independence, especially after officially transforming into Chronicle Labs in 2023, it is no longer limited to the Maker ecosystem, but begins to provide data services to the entire DeFi and RWA track.

This transformation does not mean that Chronicle and Sky have parted ways, but their cooperation model can become more diverse. This diversity is not only reflected in the depth of technical support, but also in the breadth of cooperation forms. For example, as independent communities, the two can share resources and collaborate with ecosystems. Chronicle's decentralized node network can provide Sky users with a more transparent data verification experience, and Sky's stablecoin traffic can also feed back to Chronicle, enhancing its influence in the DeFi community. This diversified model of "I have me in you, I have you in me" has led Chronicle's relationship to Sky to evolve from a single dependency to a more resilient and creative partnership.

The meaning of independence

Chronicle's independence is closely related to Rune Christensen's "Endgame" plan proposed in 2022. The 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 stripping away oracle capabilities, Sky focuses on stablecoins and governance optimization to avoid duplicate resource allocation. Chronicle can independently expand the market, open up external sources of income, and reduce the maintenance burden of the Sky ecosystem, and the division of labor between the two is clearer.

Independence also brought about changes in governance and market strategies. Chronicle is no longer limited to the governance framework of MakerDAO or Sky, but is able to independently develop development routes, such as connecting with more L2 networks (such as Arbitrum, Optimism), or exploring in-depth cooperation with TradFi institutions. In the future, it may further expand in the fields of decentralized data market, on-chain authentication, and even AI combined with blockchain data, becoming the core pillar of Web3 data infrastructure.

In addition, Chronicle is more likely to attract external capital after independence. In this round of financing, 71% of the funds came from US investment institutions. The addition of these institutions not only brings financial support, but also provides important endorsement for Chronicle's future market expansion, regulatory compliance, and institutional cooperation. In particular, the addition of Brevan Howard means that Chronicle has the opportunity to open up more cooperation channels for traditional financial institutions, further promote the on-chain launch of RWA assets, and provide more transparent and compliant on-chain data support for the integration of DeFi and TradFi. It is worth mentioning that although funds did not flow directly 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 directly influenced by Rune or Sky. It may further expand its service scope to target more blockchain ecosystems, rather than relying solely on Sky. For Sky, this not only means more cooperation opportunities, but also needs to adapt to Chronicle's broader market positioning.

How do ordinary users participate in the Chronicle ecosystem?

Ordinary users can obtain Chronicle-related points through the Sky ecosystem, which may be part of the future Chronicle incentive mechanism. Specific participation methods include:

1. By Sky.money

Visit sky.money to participate in staking or liquidity provision using USDS.

Chronicle points may be related to these operations, and the specific rules are subject to further disclosure by the official.

2. By Spark.fi

Deposit USDS on Spark Protocol or participate in loans.

The community speculates that Chronicle points may be linked to TVL contributions, and the degree of participation may affect future rewards.

3. Follow the official news

Follow Chronicle's official X account (@ChronicleLabs) and Discord to get the latest information.

Keep abreast of the updates and incentive plans of the points mechanism.