Only 1% of people know that oracles are actually "prophecy machines". There are many interesting Chinese translations in Web3, for example, Oracle is translated as "预言机" (prophecy machine). I don't know where it started going wrong, but it has been wrong all along, and now it has become a convention. With a little research, you will find that Oracle does not actually have the ability to "prophesy"; it is merely a tool for transmitting data. Let's dive in! ⬇️ The main function of oracles in blockchain is to provide trusted inputs of off-chain data, such as aggregating spot prices and passing them to smart contracts, which then determine the prices of derivative products. So, essentially, oracles should be called data interfaces, data intermediaries, or simply off-chain information transmitters. If you must ask how the translation of "prophecy machine" came about, it is probably because the original translation was "喻言机" (metaphor machine), where "喻" means to transmit or convey, and "言" means information. Someone misheard it, and it became a habit. The traditional oracle path is: price data source - oracle node - state layer - dAPP receiving data, which takes 2 to 10 seconds. This could be a disaster for high-frequency trading or price-sensitive DeFi applications, as this delay could be exploited by attackers, especially in oracle attacks and flash loan attacks. High-speed oracles are a new direction in the oracle space, and indeed, a batch of excellent competitors has emerged. Transitioning from technology to application and widespread use is actually very difficult, meaning you not only need super impressive technical solutions but also a strong capital and resource background, as this is a typical winner-takes-all arena. With less than 10 milliseconds, covering 7 public chains, integrating with 50+ DeFi protocols, safeguarding over $5 billion in on-chain assets, and dominating the Oracle AMM space, if you are paying attention to this field, I cannot allow you to be unaware of it. Switchboard is the leader in high-speed oracles, providing ultra-fast, permissionless cross-chain data transmission in a trusted environment. It's all knowledge points; let's simplify it: Switchboard has innovated in terms of environmental safety, data transmission methods, and data permission models, achieving faster, safer, and cheaper results, while also providing exclusive innovative Oracle AMM. / Recently, everyone has a clear feeling that trading is shifting from CEX to DEX, but hyperliquid just liquidated XPL, lighter just had a user mistakenly liquidated, and edgeX also experienced external market maker price manipulation, which ultimately relates to oracles. Switchboard was born in Solana, and Oracle AMM may become the standard configuration for the next generation of DEX, after all, the model of off-chain matching and on-chain confirmation has too many links and security concerns. Switchboard's core product, Surge, is specifically designed for DeFi / DEX, allowing developers to obtain millisecond-level, low-cost, permissionless data transmission without building a complex oracle system. All core on-chain operations such as trading, lending, and liquidation can be handled. With this capability, Switchboard has been able to deeply integrate with top protocols like Jito, Drift, GMX, Kamino, and Fragmetric, covering cross-chain, wallets, DEX, and other applications. No wonder their website calls themselves "The Everything Oracle". Switchboard has completed $11 million in funding, with the A round led by Tribe Capital and RockawayX, and the seed round led by Lemniscap. Among the participating institutions, you can see various public chain foundations, such as Solana Foundation, Aptos, Mysten Labs, Starkware, etc. This is what I mentioned earlier: technology is important, but resources are equally important! How to participate? There aren't many ways to get involved in this infra hidden behind the protocol, and there are currently no tokens. I checked the community, and the ticker has been confirmed as $SWTCH, with TGE on September 9, and it will be available on DEX platforms like Backpack, Raydium, and Orca, and on CEX platforms like bitget. For more updates, you can follow their official Twitter @switchboardxyz. In the oracle space, the market cap ceiling for the old king has reached $15 billion, while the market cap range for new players is between $200 million to $500 million. I feel that $SWTCH can quickly break through this range, so let's look forward to it. / Author: anymose | A soft-core science popularization writer This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice. Always remember to DYOR!