Building in the blockchain industry isn’t just about writing code—it’s about finding the right ecosystem, infrastructure, and community to scale innovation. Think of it like a bustling city. Each financial, cultural, and residential district has its own unique role and significance, but it’s the infrastructure—roads, bridges, utilities, and communication networks—that connects them, enabling the entire city to function seamlessly.

For blockchain protocols, access to secure services, developer networks, and go-to-market support can mean the difference between an idea that stalls and a project that succeeds. For blockchains, long-term growth depends on attracting builders who realize real-world use cases and drive adoption. This is where Chainlink Build and Chainlink Scale come in.

Since their launch in September 2022, these programs have driven significant growth within the Chainlink ecosystem and the broader blockchain industry. Together, these programs create a powerful flywheel where early-stage teams gain the technical and strategic support needed to grow, and blockchains instantly connect with high-quality builders. With Build offering enhanced access to the Chainlink standard in exchange for committing a percentage of their token supply into the program and Scale supercharging adoption through economic sustainability by blockchain ecosystems helping cover the operating costs of Chainlink oracle networks, the result is an interconnected pipeline of innovation where protocols launch faster, ecosystems expand, and the entire blockchain industry accelerates as a result.

This blog explores the current state and future trajectory of Chainlink Build and Scale, and how they’re driving the Chainlink Effect across the blockchain industry.

Chainlink Build: The Foundation of Innovation

Chainlink Build helps accelerate onchain app development and innovation by providing projects with enhanced access to Chainlink services and technical support, in exchange for a commitment of a percentage of the project’s token supply. For a full list of Build members, check out this official Chainlink Build members list on X.

In 2024, the Build program welcomed 41 new teams, Build members announced 22 Chainlink integrations, with many of them leveraging the entire Chainlink platform to unlock cutting-edge onchain use cases. Our commitment to driving visibility for exceptional builders led to 1.45M impressions on social media and 81 speaking opportunities for Build members, enabling them to showcase their project development at major conferences and panels. 10+ Build members have collaborated with other Build members to realize innovative onchain use cases.

The Build program includes a blueprint of activities —including building with Scale partners—that are expected to be completed at each stage of development, ensuring clarity and structure for participating teams. The synergy between Build and Scale is unlocking powerful new opportunities for developers. By enabling teams to work more closely with Scale partners, Build can foster deeper integration and accelerate innovation.

“The Build program is more than a community of builders—it’s a dynamic engine of innovation. By fostering collaborations with Scale members and strategic partners, we’re enabling teams to achieve key milestones faster and drive adoption across the onchain ecosystem.”—Sheth Sanket, Global VP of Revenue & Partnerships at Chainlink Labs

Chainlink Scale: Empowering Thriving Onchain Ecosystems

Chainlink Scale enables blockchains and layer-2 networks to supercharge smart contract innovation in their native ecosystems by helping cover the operating costs (e.g. transaction gas fees) of Chainlink oracle networks operating on their blockchain for a period of time.

In 2024, the Scale program significantly expanded its reach, now encompassing 16 chains in total and supporting a thriving developer community of approximately 4,000+ builders developing across these chains. The cumulative Total Verified Messages (TVM) across Scale chains surpassed 300M+, showcasing the real-world adoption of these thriving blockchain ecosystems. Hackathons also introduced fresh talent and innovation into these ecosystems, with 1,800+ participants contributing to 176 projects across Scale chains.

These milestones reflect not only the innovation of our partners but also the scalability of the Chainlink ecosystem. As Johann Eid, Chief Business Officer at Chainlink Labs noted:

“Scale has proven to be the launchpad for chains to empower developers at an unparalleled scale, supporting onchain ecosystems that are thriving with activity and interconnected across the multi-chain ecosystem. We’re excited to help blockchain ecosystems supercharge adoption and innovation through Chainlink Scale.”

Build To Scale: Serving the Blockchain and Application Level

Build and Scale were developed as parallel initiatives: Build attracts early-stage teams, while Scale supports blockchain ecosystem adoption and exposure. Moving forward, we are connecting these programs more closely to attract the best builders on both the blockchain and the application levels. These two programs have also attracted some of the best service providers and platform partners, making Chainlink the complete ecosystem with some of the most talented partners and users. 

This increased integration includes:

• Showcasing Build projects within Scale member ecosystems.
• Highlighting Build projects’ milestones on specific chains.
• Spotlighting service providers and platform partners when they enhance security, accelerate deployment, or provide funding and marketing support for Build projects.

At the heart of ecosystem success lies the strategic integration of Build, Scale, and the service provider partners of the extensive Chainlink ecosystem. This ensures that as Build projects launch on Scale chains, they’re supported by world-class partners providing security, infrastructure, and go-to-market expertise. This interconnected ecosystem creates a competitive advantage by combining world-class technology, a passionate community, and a strategically aligned partner network.

Together Build, Scale, and ecosystem partners complete the bustling city of an ever-expanding onchain world.

The adoption of the Chainlink standard creates a self-reinforcing cycle. As more chains adopt Chainlink through Scale, early-stage protocols from Build gain the ability to accelerate innovation. This growth attracts additional developers, who expand the ecosystem’s capabilities.

Real-world use cases highlight the value of these #BuildToScale collaborations best. Some highlights from the past year include:

• The Chainlink DeFi Yield Index (CDY Index) was built using Space and Time technology in the calculation process and Dedaub as a security provider.
• XSwap and Interport are leveraging CCIP for seamless cross-chain transactions across multiple Scale chains.
• Brickken and Lympid collaborated on tokenized asset solutions.
• Concero used Dedaub for its first smart contract audit.
• Cyfrin is helping to secure Build protocols on ZKsync with its auditing work.
• FYEO is auditing Theoriq’s appchain. 
• Marketing agencies like AmaZix, MarketAcross, and Melrose PR have helped Build teams to expand their reach.
• Hypernative sponsored a Build private event at Token2049 Singapore to drive collaboration.

Supercharging Onchain Ecosystems With the Chainlink Effect

One major advantage of adopting the Chainlink standard is that once a project integrates one Chainlink service, it can seamlessly adopt other services with minimal additional trust assumptions, as all Chainlink services are built on the same proven infrastructure.

This benefit drives blockchains to join the Scale program to accelerate the growth of their onchain ecosystems, while early-stage projects leverage Build to speed up their time-to-market. For blockchains, integrating with Chainlink can bring a surge in developer activity. For protocol developers, access to Chainlink services accelerates development timelines and enables more advanced functionality. This self-reinforcing dynamic is what we call the Chainlink Effect.

As we move into 2025, Chainlink will deepen its focus on the #BuildToScale vision to bring the Chainlink Effect to even more ecosystems. By aligning Build and Scale, amplifying partner reach, and empowering developers, we aim to drive greater innovation across the Chainlink ecosystem and support the widespread adoption of decentralized systems through collaboration, growth, and community.

As we look ahead, we’re excited to continue to see these programs evolve and drive innovation within onchain ecosystems. 

If you’re looking to accelerate the growth of your project through the Build program, apply here. Learn more about how Chainlink Scale can supercharge your ecosystem adoption here.

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Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and contains statements about the future, including anticipated product features, development, and timelines for the rollout of these features. These statements are only predictions and reflect current beliefs and expectations with respect to future events; they are based on assumptions and are subject to risk, uncertainties, and changes at any time. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed in these statements, although we believe them to be based on reasonable assumptions. All statements are valid only as of the date first posted. These statements may not reflect future developments due to user feedback or later events and we may not update this post in response. Please review the Chainlink Terms of Service, which provides important information and disclosures.