API3, the first-party blockchain Oracle solution offering a “seamless” Web3 wrapper that enables web API providers to offer their data directly on-chain, recently announced that API3 QRNG, based on the Australian National University (ANU) Quantum Numbers API, “is now live, allowing Web3 entities to access absolutely random (unpredictable) number generation that is highly secure and free to use.”
API3 QRNG generates randomness “by utilizing quantum mechanics, establishing it as the first ‘true’ random number generator for smart contracts, an elevated offering compared to existing mathematical based ‘pseudo’ random number generators.”
Assured randomness plays “a key role in the operations of major traditional industries, including sports and competitions, lottery operations, statistical sampling, and civil service selection, among other use cases.”
As organizations look to leverage the Web3 ecosystem, either by transferring operations onto the blockchain or innovating new offerings, “it remains paramount that secure, tamper-proof random number generation is possible.”
While many decentralized applications (dApps) currently rely on pseudo random computer algorithms for random number generation, or verified (pseudo) random functions which often require “premium” fees and still run the risk of producing deterministic data, API3 QRNG “uses random numbers generated by measuring a fluctuating quantum system to ultimately guarantee unpredictable randomness.”
Via API3’s first-party oracle system, where data providers bring information directly to the consumer without the interference of middlemen, API3 QRNG “is also inherently unsusceptible to middleman attacks or collusion.”
Syed Assad, researcher at ANU, stated:
“The laws of quantum physics guarantee that certain measurement outcomes must be random. This allows us to generate a fast stream of unbiased random numbers that cannot be predicted beforehand. We’re delighted to work with API3 to make quantum numbers accessible by dApps in the Web3 ecosystem.”
API3 QRNG is available on 13 blockchain platforms – “including Polygon, Avalanche, Fantom, Metis, Moonbeam, and RSK – significantly surpassing the accessibility offered by leading alternatives.”
To further expand accessibility for all developers and entities on the blockchain, API3 “will not charge users to utilize API3 QRNG.”
Consumers will only pay the gas fees needed to call the API and receive a response, and “will not face any additional premium payments for number generation.”
This low-cost, high-security option will disrupt a number of current and future Web3 operations, such as:
- Gaming: Metaverse, play-to-earn, and community-building games on the blockchain heavily rely on continuous random number generation to keep operations unpredictable and exciting for players. For multiplayer games that must produce random encounters or surprise events to increase difficulty, reliable and cost-effective random number generation plays a large role in success.
- Gambling: For games of chance, where financial incentives serve as a reward for correct wagers, players will only partake if they trust developers are utilizing a tamper-proof generation to maintain fair odds.
- NFTs and Generative Art: Randomly distributing assets comes to life in an artistic format when developing generative NFTs – resulting in a collection of dynamic digital assets developed through the organically unpredictable quantum process, compared to the manufactured nature of computer algorithms. For those working on numerous collections, turning to a free randomness generator is valuable and enables limitless creation.
- Participatory Processes: Web3 applications that involve public participation, such as random token distribution or drawn winners, can leverage a random number generator to ensure a truly fair assignment process of high demand items without bias.
Heikki Vänttinen, co-founder of API3, remarked:
“A mission of API3 is to further accelerate the development of Web3. We’ve already made strides by forming the largest association of API providers in the decentralized ecosystem, and today we mark a new milestone by bringing the very first true random number generator – utilizing the gold standard of quantum random number generation – to blockchain applications.”
In order to learn more about API3 and how it is bringing quantum random number generation to the blockchain, check here.