Let’s jump straight in, Chainlink (LINK) has ruled blockchain oracles for some time now. But Pyth Network or Pyth is making a bold move for the crown. With millisecond-level latency and a focus on derivatives through its Pyth Lazer offering, Pyth is redefining DeFi’s algorithmic trading game. While Chainlink leans on institutional trust, Pyth’s speed and precision are winning over a new generation of traders. Can Chainlink keep up? Today we look into how strong Pyth Network (PYTH) will be in 2025.
In 2024, Chainlink handled a staggering $18.2+ trillion in Total Transaction Enabled (TTE), while Pyth surpassed the $1 trillion mark in Total Transaction Volume (TTV). While the former measures the quantity of transactions processed, the latter only concerns the total monetary value of those transactions. Whatever the case, these numbers point to Chainlink’s dominant role in the oracle market, with Pyth making impressive strides of its own.
DeFi 2.0 refers to “a subset of emerging protocols building on top of initial DeFi money LEGOs to advance the current DeFi landscape, primarily in the form of liquidity provisioning and incentivization.” DeFi 2.0 doesn’t have time for yesterday’s tech. This is why Pyth is racing ahead, catering to traders who need data faster. For Chainlink, some might say the ground is shifting beneath its feet. The real question isn’t who wins — it’s how many seconds Pyth needs to make “decentralized oracle” mean something.
Speed Matters — Especially When Money’s on the Line
Chainlink’s defenders will tout its $35.527 billion in Total Value Secured (TVS) (DefiLlama) as impressive. No doubt. But the truth is, it’s becoming a relic of DeFi 1.0. Today’s market cares less about static metrics and more about real-world utility.
Take Drift Protocol, for example. Its traders prioritize Pyth’s 400-millisecond price updates, powering efficient trades and over $100 million in daily volume — as of February 2024. This year, speed and reliability matter more to derivatives traders than TVS in a DeFi space that rewards performance over old benchmarks.
In March 2024, Bitcoin experienced major volatility, leading to a rapid price decline. During this period, Pyth’s price feeds updated approximately 3.33 times per second, providing timely data to protocols utilizing their services. In contrast, Chainlink’s feeds, operating on a push model with updates occurring either every hour or upon a 0.5% price deviation — a vulnerability pointed out in Altcoin Daily’s 42k-view analysis — may not have provided data as promptly during the rapid market movements.
This discrepancy exposes a potential misalignment between Chainlink’s current push model and the demands of high-frequency trading. Recent advancements, such as Chainlink’s Data Streams, have since addressed these issues, offering pull-based, low-latency, high-frequency data updates.
When it comes to Oracle models, TTV vs. TVS, Pyth and Chainlink are playing very different games. Pyth’s TTV approach, monetizing per oracle call, has fuelled its growth, with over $800 billion in on-chain traded volume. Meanwhile, Chainlink’s TVS model secured $35.681 billion in assets, offering steady fees but raising questions about scalability. As both networks expand, Pyth’s rapid adoption — growing its secured value 46-fold in just nine months during 2024 — signals it may soon pose a serious challenge to Chainlink’s dominance.
Who Will Survive the Regulatory Squeeze?
Chainlink is thriving under the 2025 regulatory spotlight. With its Privacy Suite it aligns neatly with MiCA rules. Add to this the strong partnership with SWIFT and things are continuously looking up. On the flip side, Pyth’s heavy reliance on DeFi platforms linked to perpetual trading could spell trouble. With the CFTC cracking down on such sectors, Pyth’s growth hangs in the balance, vulnerable to sudden regulatory shifts.
Chainlink’s 2024–2025 milestones include collaborations with DTCC, Euroclear, and Swift, as well as Chainlink’s Runtime Environment launch to streamline multi-chain development. Sergey Nazarov predicts 2025 as the year of capital markets adoption, with governments and central banks adopting blockchain standards.
Chainlink isn’t out of regulatory hot water just yet. If the SEC slaps LINK with a “security” label, its price — currently hovering around $24.55 — could crater overnight. That said, Chainlink’s proactive steps, like excluding U.S. investors from its ICO, might keep regulators at bay.
Pyth on the other hand, has its own drama. Come May 2025, it’s flooding the market with 2.13 billion tokens, and traders are sweating a potential dump. But if they pull it off? Analysts think PYTH could cap between $0.50 and $ 1.20 by the summer.
But here’s the thing — chaos doesn’t mean collapse. If Pyth pulls this off without tanking, hitting $0.50 isn’t just possible — it’d lock in its reputation as the leading oracle provider.
With President Donald J. Trump’s pro-crypto executive order about a week ago, plus the rescindment of SAB 121 by the U.S. SEC — now being chaired by acting chair Mark Uyeda — Disruption Banking reported that 2025 might be a turnaround year for the industry, all things considered.
The Punchline is DeFi Doesn’t Need Bridges — It Needs Rockets
Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov isn’t wrong when he says, “Many traditional assets are moving to blockchain, and we want to be ready to provide the technology to bring these financial activities into a more efficient and transparent infrastructure.” This vision is materializing through Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) and collaborations with institutions like BlackRock and Swift. Platforms like Aave, which reported $34 billion in net deposits in 2024, rely on Chainlink’s multi-chain feeds and security infrastructure.
Solana, SUI, and Aptos represent growth in alternative ecosystems. Chainlink’s focus on capital markets and government adoption positions it as a bridge between DeFi and TradFi, with its Runtime Environment (CRE) simplifying cross-chain development. The momentum lies not in fragmentation but in interoperability, as Chainlink’s standards gain traction in regulated markets.
Michael Cahill, CEO and Co-founder of Douro Labs’ (a core contributor to Pyth) shared how — “With Oracle Integrity Staking, Pyth is introducing a new era of accountability, enhancing security and trust in decentralized finance.” He emphasizes the protocol’s mission to ‘democratize access to real-time financial data’ through its pull oracle architecture, which updates prices every 400 milliseconds.
While cross-chain interoperability remains a focus for many projects, Pyth’s Wormhole integration has scaled to deliver high-fidelity price feeds across 70+ blockchains, powering over 400 DeFi applications. Its recent Oracle Integrity Staking further aligns incentives for data accuracy, securing nearly a trillion in transaction volume, as pointed out earlier.
As of November 2024, Pyth’s cross-chain revenue, TTV, had grown 1,362% YoY. Chainlink remains the dominant player in the Oracle market. It continues to solidify its position by engaging with traditional financial institutions, such as through its Proof of Reserve service for Bitcoin ETFs. Meanwhile, Pyth is enhancing decentralized finance by offering high-frequency financial data feeds, laying the groundwork for the next generation of DeFi applications.
Market Sentiment: Public Narratives and Price Catalysts
Pyth’s May 2025 unlock of 2.13 billion tokens (21.3% of total supply, $598.61M) poses significant market risks, as highlighted by its potential to inflate circulating supply by 141.67%. Meanwhile, regulatory uncertainty around Oracle networks persist. Though no direct SEC action against Pyth has hit the press anytime.
PYTH trades at $0.29 (as of writing), with some forecasters pointing at $0.50 by June 2025 if unlocks are managed smoothly.
The Bottom Line
The Oracle wars won’t be decided in 2025, but the trajectory is clear. Chainlink remains the safer bet for TradFi integration, but Pyth’s ascendancy reflects a broader truth: In markets where milliseconds determine profits, speed, and specialization will always eclipse breadth and caution.
Investors clinging to Chainlink’s TVS metrics are fighting the last war. The real action — and the real returns — lie in Pyth’s transactional velocity. And in 2025’s cutthroat crypto landscape, that’s not an insult — it’s a probable blueprint for dominance.
Author: Richardson Chinonyerem
#TradFi #ChainLink #Pyth #Oracle #DeFi
Disclaimer:
The editorial team at #DisruptionBanking has taken all precautions to ensure that no persons or organizations have been adversely affected or offered any sort of financial advice in this article. This article is most definitely not financial advice.
See Also:
How Strong Will Quant (QNT) be in 2025? | Disruption Banking
How Strong Will SUI Be in 2025? | Disruption Banking
