Usecases

We thought we would include a page on example markets enabled by ORAO. Our Data Protocol structure will support a great many usecases outside of simple price feeds, including but not limited to:

Sports betting: Gambling has become a popular usecase for smart contracts already. However, using Data Protocols it becomes possible to import information from the outside world, like who won a specific soccer game or baseball match, with betting smart contracts simply purchasing data on the outcome at the end of a game and paying out accordingly.

Decentralized insurance: Allowing smart contracts to purchase real world data also allows things like decentralized insurance, which until now has required a trusted central authority. With ORAO it becomes possible to set up an insurance smart contract that calculates fair fees and payouts based on historic data, and then checks at predetermined times or on request whether conditions for payout have been met.

For an example we will look at the case of a farmer wishing to purchase drought insurance. The insurance smart contract can request historic precipitation data and trends for the area where the farmer operates, and set fees and payout amounts accordingly. At the end of the contract period the contract can then purchase data on how much precipitation the area has received during the period of time the farmer bought insurance for. If it has rained enough, the farmer is assumed to have secured a good harvest. However, if precipitation levels did not reach some previously agreed upon threshold the contract acknowledges a drought and the farmer receives his payout immediately. Removing the middle man of an insurance company (And claims adjusters) makes the process much faster, and also more transparent and reliable. It either rained in the farmer's area or it did not.

Similarly such smart insurance contracts can reach out for real estate price data, cost of replacing electronics, flight delays and cancellations, even cause of death in the case of life insurance.

Financials: In addition to the typical crypto price feeds that every oracle network supports, ORAO data providers can offer anything from stock and ETF performance history to property and car prices to ICO schedules.

Cross-chain information gathering: ORAO being based on Polkadot for cross-chain compatibility also means it becomes possible for smart contracts to request information from other chains, and from smart contracts on other chains, all without human intermediaries.

Foreign Exchange: As Blockchain and Smart Contracts see ever increasing adoption, it is easy to see how price data on fiat currencies will become as important as cryptocurrency price data, especially in DeFi, bank-less remittances, etc.

Travel data: Taking advantage of the decentralized nature of oracle systems, ORAO data providers can supply ads-b and other non-public flight data for private and corporate flights all across the world. They can also tap into train schedules, hotel prices and occupancy rates,

Arbitrary information verification: Because any number of Data Protocols can be added, oracles on ORAO will be able to provide virtually any kind of information. As an example one of the first Data Protocols we enabled was for scouring information on movies from IMDB. If in ten years someone comes up with a smart contract that requires access to recreation or entertainment data like TV schedules or Netflix availability by region, ORAO oracles will be able to provide that.