- Chainlink lets DeFi apps track stocks, gold, and ETFs almost 24/5, bridging crypto with $80T in traditional markets.
- Developers can create trading, lending, and synthetic asset apps that respond to market moves in real time.
- Continuous updates reduce gaps from market closures, boosting liquidity, flexibility, and efficiency for investors.
Crypto markets have been quiet lately, while stocks, gold, and other commodities keep hitting new highs. In response, Chainlink is stepping up to help decentralized finance (DeFi) tap into these traditional markets. The blockchain network now provides continuous, real-time data on U.S. stocks and commodities, so DeFi apps can keep running even when the stock market is closed.
By offering near-instant pricing for popular assets like Nvidia, Apple, and gold through ETFs, Chainlink makes it easier for developers to create apps that track real-world markets—without needing a central authority to provide the data.
Chainlink’s updated Data Streams now provide U.S. stock prices almost all the time—before the market opens, during trading, after hours, and even overnight. This lets DeFi apps stay connected to the market around the clock.
Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise, emphasized, “I believe it is one of the least understood, most important, and possibly most undervalued crypto assets.” Besides providing raw data, Chainlink ensures sub-second updates and cryptographic verification, meeting institutional standards for accuracy and reliability.
Expanding Market Access and Liquidity
The latest feeds let DeFi protocols respond to market volatility at any time. Moreover, by extending price coverage to overnight sessions, dApps can manage risk, trade synthetic assets, and offer exposure whenever global events impact traditional markets. Additionally, developers can now create perpetual futures, structured financial instruments, prediction markets, and lending protocols tied to real-world assets (RWAs).
For instance, a protocol can continuously track Nvidia or gold prices, reducing gaps caused by traditional market closures. This enhances liquidity during high-volatility periods and provides investors more flexibility. Furthermore, the continuous feeds strengthen DeFi’s push into tokenized exposure, allowing users to access $80 trillion worth of assets without leaving the blockchain. Consequently, Chainlink bridges the gap between crypto-native assets and traditional markets.
Why Chainlink Stands Out
Chainlink often goes unnoticed despite its critical infrastructure role. Unlike typical crypto tokens, it functions as middleware, supplying blockchains with verified real-world data.
Hougan likened the platform to Amazon, stating that calling Chainlink a data oracle is “like calling Amazon a bookstore.” Its capacity to deliver high-throughput, accurate pricing for equities and commodities differentiates it from other blockchain services. Moreover, the 24/5 streams build on prior equity and ETF feeds launched in August 2025, which already supported high-frequency pricing for top U.S. stocks.
Because of inflation, world events, and robust demand in some industries, traditional assets like stocks and commodities continue to move while cryptocurrency markets remain silent.
AI-related stocks continue to garner interest, and gold and silver are also well-liked safe-haven investments. Chainlink enables DeFi apps to connect to these markets in real time with its continuous data feeds, assisting developers in producing better goods and making better use of cash.
