Chainlink has upgraded its Data Streams to offer nearly 24/5 real-time pricing for U.S. stocks, gold, and ETFs, allowing DeFi protocols to track traditional assets even when exchanges are closed. The move unlocks access to the $80 trillion traditional market for blockchain-based applications.
Full-Session Coverage: Pre-Market, After-Hours, Overnight
Updated feeds cover popular stocks like Nvidia and Apple, as well as gold ETFs, with sub-second updates and cryptographic verification meeting institutional standards. Building on equity and ETF feeds launched in August 2025, the new version extends coverage to nearly 24 hours a day, five days a week, slashing data gaps caused by market closures. DeFi apps can now respond immediately to global events—such as NFP releases or geopolitical shocks—without waiting for the next trading session.
New Use Cases: Perpetuals, Prediction Markets, Synthetic Assets
Continuous pricing enables a range of novel on-chain applications: perpetual futures that track Nvidia’s price 24/7 without T+1 settlement restrictions, prediction markets that settle Apple earnings in real time, and lending protocols that accept gold ETF as collateral with instant liquidations. Synthetic assets also gain a stable price anchor, letting users gain exposure to traditional markets without leaving the blockchain. Chainlink says the feeds enhance liquidity during high volatility and give investors more flexibility.
Bitwise CIO: Chainlink Is “Amazon, Not a Bookstore”
Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise, stated: “I believe it is one of the least understood, most important, and possibly most undervalued crypto assets.” He compared Chainlink’s role to Amazon, arguing that calling it merely a “data oracle” is like calling Amazon a bookstore. As middleware that delivers high-throughput, verified pricing, Chainlink stands apart from typical crypto tokens. With traditional assets like AI-related stocks, gold, and silver continuing to rally while crypto markets stay quiet, Hougan sees Chainlink’s infrastructure value becoming increasingly evident. The upgrade helps developers create better products and use capital more efficiently, bridging the gap between crypto-native and traditional markets.