Recently, while reviewing the role of oracles on-chain, I increasingly feel that the core issue has been misunderstood.

Many believe that the value of oracles lies in bringing off-chain data onto the chain. Actually, that's not the case. The real value is enabling on-chain systems to "calibrate" what is happening in the off-chain world. It sounds a bit convoluted, but looking three to five years ahead, this will be the key capability that determines whether the entire ecosystem can truly scale.

**Why do I say this?** Because the complexity of on-chain operations will only increase in the future.

Automated AI execution, cross-chain settlement, off-chain proof verification, RWA (Real-World Asset) status updates, multi-step strategy coordination, on-chain automated risk control, execution status synchronization—these are all on the agenda. And they share a fundamental common problem:

The off-chain world is uncertain, but on-chain execution must be certain.

What is the traditional approach of oracles? To extract a piece of data from an uncertain world and bring it onto the chain. This still works in scenarios like price feeds or simple data inputs.

But when on-chain operations start handling complex business logic, what you need is not just data, but **the ability to judge whether the off-chain results are correct**. Note, this is not just data collection; it’s about calibration of reality.

For example: cross-chain settlement. You need to confirm that a transaction on another chain has indeed been completed, that the status is correct, and that risks are controlled. You can't just receive a "settlement complete" signal and proceed; you need to verify the entire process.

The same applies to RWA. Off-chain real estate, bonds, and asset statuses are changing. You need a system that can continuously confirm that what is happening in reality matches the on-chain records.

AI execution also requires this. When smart contracts make automated decisions, they need not only to see the AI output but also to verify that this output is based on real, up-to-date off-chain data.

All these point to the same need: **an on-chain system capable of continuously calibrating the state of the off-chain world**.

This is why this capability is especially significant for the BTC ecosystem. As BTC expands into application layers, it will encounter these scenarios in large numbers. Whether it's sidechain settlement, cross-chain protocol state synchronization, or on-chain financial derivatives risk management, this issue cannot be avoided.

In other words, whether or not effective state calibration can be achieved directly determines whether the application layer can truly take off. This is not a bonus; it’s a necessity.

Looking ahead, on-chain data processing will no longer be limited to prices. It will include RWA compliance documents, audit reports, cross-chain proofs, off-chain execution feedback. These information flows will become increasingly dense and diverse. Moreover, they will be unstable—sometimes fast, sometimes slow; sometimes with errors, sometimes with delays.

In such an environment, what the system needs is a mechanism capable of continuous monitoring, verification, and updating of on-chain states, rather than passively receiving individual pieces of information.

This is the true capability that the ecosystem needs.