2022 looks to be a transformative year for the cryptocurrency ecosystem as the focus on interoperability between siloed blockchain networks comes to the forefront and a multitude of projects announce plans to interconnect their platforms with other protocols.

One sector of the crypto ecosystem that will play a vital role in ensuring smooth communication and interaction between networks is oracles projects like Chainlink (LINK) and Band Protocol (BAND).

Top 8 oracle projects by market capitalization. Source: Messari

Oracles relay data in a consistent, secure and decentralized manner and this is key to providing price feeds for the DeFi sector and centralized exchanges.

The number of partners for the top oracle projects. Source: Twitter

As shown in the graphic above, Chainlink is by far the most widely adopted oracle in the crypto ecosystem with a near eight-fold lead in partners when compared to its nearest competitor Berry Data (BRY).

Chainlink secures new partnerships

A scroll through the Chainlink Twitter feed shows why LINK has started off 2022 as the top oracle provider by announcing multiple partnerships with DeFi and NFT projects.

The project has also benefited from its focus on developing the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) which helps facilitate the ongoing growth of the multi-chain ecosystem.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for LINK on Dec. 10, prior to the recent price rise.

The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historical and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. LINK price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for LINK began to pick up on Dec. 10 and hit a high of 77, around 72 hours before the price increased 60% over the next three weeks.

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Band Protocol launches on Celo

Band Protocol is a cross-chain data platform designed to help developers integrate real-world data into their decentralized applications including sports, weather, random numbers and price feed data.

The project recently announced that it had launched on Celo’s (CELO) mobile-first DeFi platform, which focuses on bringing decentralized finance to more than “6 billion smartphones in circulation.”

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for BAND on Dec. 29, prior to the recent price rise.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. BAND price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for BAND hit a high of 76 on Dec. 29, around 48 hours before the price began to increase 44% over the next five days.

With the major themes of interoperability and cross-chain integrations shaping up to be a primary focus of the cryptocurrency ecosystem in 2022, oracles are one sector of the market that could continue to see positive inflows thanks to their ability to transfer data and assets seamlessly and securely between supported blockchain networks.

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