Chainlink’s verifiable randomness function, or VRF, has made its way into the core Ethereum (ETH) network. The VRF will provide a decentralized source of randomness for the project’s decentralized ecosystem.
A reliable source of randomness is essential for many applications, such as those in the gambling and gaming industry. Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov told Cointelegraph that many blockchains beyond Ethereum, such as the gaming-centric Matic Network, are interested in implementing the project’s VRF:
“I know we have 10 to 20 users announced that they are already using it since it was only on testnet. And I know a number of people have already used it for a thing or two on mainnet. And I also know that a certain number of chains we’re integrating into, interesting enough, whether they’re focused on the game or not, already have people lined up to use it when we’ve finalized our integration to that chain.
As with the testnet implementation of the feature, VRF’s first use case on the Ethereum mainnet is a gamified application that incentivizes users to save money called PoolTogether. Its co-founder, Leighton Cusack, shared his thoughts on the importance of having a reliable source of randomness:
“The V3 PoolTogether protocol creates a true ‘cash lego’ for lossless prize games. An essential component of this is the generation of randomness. Using Chainlink VRF allows us to move from a less secure and centralized system to one. decentralized. “
VRF is a compute-intensive application that is more expensive in terms of Ethereum fees than regular Chainlink oracles. According to Nazarov, the team has been working on VRF for a couple of years. He noted that a lot has changed in the Ethereum landscape during that time:
“But then the dynamics of gas prices were very different and there were a lot more games on Ethereum. So, interestingly enough, I think what happens with Chainlink VRF will now be successfully launched with a number of users on the Ethereum mainnet. But those are the users who are still on Ethereum for gaming. And many game users have now started switching to other more specific games, which is also where we will soon have Chainlink VRF as well. “
Integrating with other EVM-compatible blockchains is relatively straightforward for Chainlink’s VRF, Nazarov said. He believes that although the initial adoption of this technology will come from the blockchain space, it will eventually connect to other industries. At present, many of these already use their own reliable methods of generating randomness and are not particularly keen to overcome the obstacles of adopting a decentralized alternative. Nazarov supposed that a big scandal could change all this:
“From time to time in the gaming industry, you see this kind of flashes of concern from users, you see some gaming sites somewhere anticipating users within the gaming site, or you see a scandal with something gaming that is regulated but a few employees were still playing and they were still able to win against other players. And I think whenever that happens, those bigger companies start looking for additional solutions. “