Oracles Evolve Beyond Price Feeds as Chronicle Powers Grove Protocol’s $1B Tokenized Credit Push
Chronicle, the oracle infrastructure provider specializing in secure and scalable onchain financial data, has been selected as the exclusive oracle partner for Grove Protocol—a newly launched institutional-grade credit platform managing a $1 billion allocation in tokenized real-world assets.
Grove, part of the Sky ecosystem where each platform unit is called a “Star,” launched in June with a focus on collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), including the Janus Henderson Anemoy AAA CLO Strategy on Centrifuge. The initiative aims to bridge the gap between DeFi and traditional credit markets, providing protocols and asset managers access to diversified, institutional-level yield.
In an interview with CoinDesk, Chronicle founder Niklas Kunkel said oracles are undergoing a major shift, expanding beyond their conventional use as price data feeds.
“Oracles began as broad data distribution tools but became narrowly associated with price feeds,” said Kunkel. “Now, the market is waking up to their broader capabilities—especially in supporting real-time, data-driven risk management.”
Kunkel believes tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) represent DeFi’s next major growth wave, calling them a “multi-trillion-dollar liquidity injection opportunity” as the sector matures beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“RWAs aren’t native to crypto, which means the risk management around them must be more robust,” he said. “Not everything is onchain, and that’s where oracles play a crucial role—adding context, transparency, and accountability.”
Kunkel also noted that oracles are well-positioned to evolve into regulatory technology.
“In TradFi, regulators rely on quarterly reports. In DeFi, we operate in blocks,” he said. “Once regulators realize what oracles can deliver, they may become one of the biggest adopters of the technology.”
The partnership with Grove reinforces Chronicle’s strategy to become the leading oracle provider for tokenized assets—an area Kunkel believes may soon eclipse DeFi in scale.
Market Snapshot
- Bitcoin (BTC): Trading at $119,000, up 2% in the past 24 hours. A recent JPMorgan note suggests that a bullish S&P 500 outlook could lift Bitcoin by boosting investor risk appetite.
- Ethereum (ETH): Trading above $4,200 after a 13% rally. According to Bizantine Capital’s March Zheng, a wave of forced short liquidations has helped accelerate gains.
- Gold: Hovering near record highs as weak U.S. economic data, trade tensions, and expectations of a dovish Fed outlook fuel demand. Upcoming inflation and retail sales data could steer the next move.
