## What Is Oiler Network (OIL)?

[Oiler Network](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/oiler-network/) is a [DeFi](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/defi) protocol for blockchain native derivatives that provides the necessary tools for blockchain protocol trading. There are other alternative protocols in the DeFi space that offer simpler products compared to the Oiler Network, but Oiler aims to be the go-to platform for everything related to trading blockchain protocols – be it options, futures or more exotic products.

The project has acquired a specific set of properties, which the creators of the Oiler Network refer to as "blockchain native" instruments, namely, the instrument can be priced and settled without off-chain [oracles](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/oracles) (issued options are priced and settled without interacting with oracles). This is possible with the introduction of [stablecoins](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/stablecoin) and [automated market makers](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/automated-market-maker-amm) (AMMs)

The Oiler Network introduces users to financial products that empower option buyers by allowing them to hedge the risks inherent in blockchains in a trustless and decentralized manner. Most of the DeFi users who will turn to the Oiler Network services are those who already have access to the blockchain protocol parameters. This include: exchanges that cover the volatile costs of withdrawing network assets; miners whose block rewards and transaction fees are volatile; and institutions that need to hedge risks.

The company was founded in 2020, and as of August 2021, the Oiler Protocol is still under development. Oiler Network has big plans to play a significant role in the DeFi market, by allowing users to trade options on blockchain parameters (gas fees or hashrate).

## Who Are the Founders of Oiler Network?

The founder of Oiler Network, CEO and Co-CTO is Tomasz Kajetan Stańczak. He entered the [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/) space in 2017, where he started building Nethermind (the company ensures the world's fastest .NET Ethereum client and P2P data marketplace, and also consulting services for Ethereum blockchain users). Nethermind is the technology service provider for Oiler Network and Stańczak is concurrently the CEO/CTO of Nethermind. He has over 10 years of experience in financial services and technology teams (FX eTrading at Citibank and Rokos Capital Management). On top of that, Stańczak is the centerpiece of the Ethereum Foundation team, developing the Ethereum core.

Antonio Sabado is the Head of Partnership and Communities. Before diving into the world of cryptocurrency, he worked as a business development manager for eight years with heads of front office trading technology of investment banks, focusing on hiring and building engineering teams. For the past four years, Sabado has built successful developer communities with a focus on blockchain and decentralized finance.

The Co-CTO and Lead Smart Contract Engineer at Oiler is Victor Naumik. Naumik holds a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. He started hacking computers at the age of five, and he develops smart contracts in accordance with the highest standards. Naumik has been in cryptocurrency since 2011 and has an education in the field of cryptography. He worked on smart contracts with Nethermind and in 2020 joined the Oiler Network team.

Grégoire le Jeune is the Head of Growth and Integration Lead. He has been interacting with the crypto ecosystem since 2016 through speculating and mining, before deciding to build a startup focused on crypto crowdlending. He earned a dual degree in common and civil law, and later studied entrepreneurship and sustainability at ESCP Europe. During that time, he created TheCoinTribune, a blockchain and crypto-focused media which achieved one million readerships in the first year. After brief stints in the FinTech and venture capital space, he joined Oiler Network in Q4 2020.

## What Makes Oiler Network (OIL) Unique?

The main goal of the developers is to make the Oiler an on-chain trading protocol so that all users can exchange binary options without any problems predicting the parameters of the blockchain. This will allow institutions, exchanges, miners and [layer-2](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/layer-2) providers to hedge network shocks.

Oiler's initial set of tools are binary options for hashrate, block gas limit and block times. They are fully collateralized and the payout for binary options is always 1 USDC. Thus, the entire option, which is determined by the underlying, strike price, put/call, expiration date, can be exercised for all holders at the same time. This saves part of the gas fees for holders.

The options issued by the Oiler Protocol will be available for trading through: OTC (for direct sale), OptiSwap (another development of the Oiler team – an AMM and offshoot of Balancer) and centralized exchanges (in the coming years).

At the initial stage, four binary options were launched: gas option (to help Ethereum users to hedge against changes in Ethereum gas prices); hashrate option (to help miners insure against block reward changes); capacity option (this option is based on gas limitation); ice age option (to hedge the risks of block timing fluctuations that could affect miners' earnings).

Oiler specifically allows hashrate put, hashrate call, block time call, block gas limit put and block gas limit call. Each option meets the [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20) standard, so they can be added to the AMM liquidity pools and traded.

## Related Pages:

Read about [Balancer (BAL)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/balancer/) and [Uniswap (UNI)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/uniswap/).

Take a deeper look at oracles with [CMC Alexandria](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/oracles-in-defi-101-a-deep-dive-by-tellor).

Why are options useful? Learn more on our [educational portal](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/protecting-and-appreciating-crypto-wealth-with-options).

What is a Liquidity Bootstrapping Pool (LBP)? Check right [here](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/liquidity-bootstrapping-pool-lbp).

## How Many Oiler Network (OIL) Coins Are There in Circulation?

Oiler Network (OIL) is an ERC-20 token created on the Ethereum blockchain with a maximum total supply of 100,000,000 OIL. The distribution of tokens is as follows: 36.8% to foundation, 20% to ecosystem, 12.5% to team, 10% to liquidity, 7% to advisory and 2.8% to private offering.

The platform has allocated around 2% of its total supply via a Balancer declining auction (liquidity bootstrap pool or LBP). The team chose the LBP method to ensure a fair distribution of tokens. The OIL token was launched to manage the protocol (no fees) and that’s the main purpose.

The event (LBP) took place from May 6 to May 8, 2021.

## How Is the Oiler Network Secured?

The Oiler Protocol gave option writers the ability to sign American Binary Options, which serve as a risk mitigation tool, although it is not 100% insurance. The Oiler developers plan to launch more hedging tools with a focus on risks.

The protocol is built on the oracle-less architecture. Oiler ensures that they will not take off-chain data, and that there are no oracles hidden behind the layers of on-chain data sources. The advantages are that if there is no need for information outside the network, then both technical risks (associated with oracles) and vectors of attacks on the network are reduced. Oracles are an obvious attack vector for decentralized applications or protocols, and the structure of the Oiler Protocol safely mitigates the risks.

Furthermore, all security audit reports (Oiler LBP audit, Oiler vesting audit, Oiler staking audit) can be found on [GitHub](https://github.com/oilernetwork).

## Where Can You Buy Oiler Network (OIL)?

After [LBP](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/liquidity-bootstrapping-pool-lbp) (Balancer Liquidity Bootstrapping Pool), the OIL token is available to trade on [Uniswap (V2)](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/uniswap-v2/) – a decentralized protocol for token exchange on [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/).

To learn how to buy cryptocurrency, including BTC, ETH and OIL, here’s a [detailed guide](https://coinmarketcap.com/how-to-buy-bitcoin/) on how to go about that.

Check the most recent crypto news and market updates from CoinMarketCap [here](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/categories/blog).