The decentralized Oracle service Umbrella Network was officially launched on Ethereum Friday and prepares the stage for cross-chain transactions between the dominant smart contract platform and Binance Smart Chain or BSC.

The cross-chain bridge connecting Ethereum and BSC was developed internally within the Umbrella Network, underscoring the need to transfer tokens and other crypto assets between the two networks.

The cross-chain bridge also allows users to stake out and farm crypto tokens on both blockchains. Umbrella said it was planning future cross-chain integrations with Polygon, Solana, Cardano and Avalanche, although no timeline was given.

While the blockchain industry has spawned a number of Oracle services,Umbrella Network claims that their protocol offers fast and affordable data feeds compared to top competitors. Initially, the protocol will contain more than 1,200 data pairs on Ethereum, allowing users to integrate data from spot cryptocurrencies, crypto derivatives, and traditional financial markets.

Related: Brazilian stock exchange wants to fulfill wishes for digital real

Oracles are an essential part of smart contracts, as they reliably feed in data from external sources and thus expand their area of ​​application. The demand for reliable data feeds seems to be increasing as smart contract technology grows in popularity. Case in point: Brazil’s most important stock exchange wants to contribute to the country’s central bank’s digital currency project.

Protocols tied to decentralized finance or DeFi have shown an interest in integrating data services. Chainlink, the dominant Oracle provider, has built a strong presence in this niche, especially since the successful implementation of Ethereum’s Layer 2 scaling solution, Arbitrum, in August.