Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Joins Chainlink Labs as Advisor

By Jason Nelson

Chainlink Labs, whose eponymous protocol connects data from outside sources to a blockchain, announced today that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has joined the organization as a strategic advisor. Schmidt served as Google's CEO and chairman from 2001 to 2011 and as a technical advisor to the search engine's parent company, Alphabet, from 2018 to 2020.

As a strategic advisor, Schmidt will assess Chainlink’s performance, researching and providing guidance to find what strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities may exist in Chainlink’s operation.

"Blockchain networks and Chainlink oracles are at a crucial inflection point in terms of growth and adoption," Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov said via a press release. "Eric's experience and insights around building global software platforms for next-generation innovation will be invaluable as we help developers and institutions usher in a new age of economic fairness and transparency."

San Francisco-based Chainlink Labs launched the Chainlink network in June 2017. Chainlink provides real-world data to Ethereum and other blockchain networks' smart contracts through a decentralized oracle network. In other words, data sent to Chainlink’s network of nodes can be viewed on other networks via smart contracts.

Chainlink, which has its own utility token (LINK) for compensating the network's node operators, is currently the 20th-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to CoinGecko, at over $9 billion.

Chainlink Labs has several big partnerships for Schmidt to play with. In October, the Associated Press said it would use Chainlink to help verify articles have been produced by its writers. In 2019, Google Cloud began working with Chainlink to build an API that lets smart contracts query the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) database, which incorporates information from over 9,000 weather stations.

"Chainlink is a secret ingredient to unlocking the potential of smart contract platforms and revolutionizing business and society," said Schmidt. "I am excited to be helping the Chainlink Labs team build a world powered by truth."

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