Tellor Tribute (TRB) is a utility and governance token powering Tellor – a blockchain oracle service that provides a way to bring off-chain data to the chain to be used by dApps in DeFi space. Tellor was launched in 2019.

Typically, blockchain is a closed system, accepting only the information that already lives on-chain. But developing and executing truly useful smart contracts often requires data from the “outside world” like current exchange rates, otherwise, their utility is quite limited. Tellor as an oracle solves this problem by letting users request data and putting it on the chain using a trustless network, which incentivizes adding honest data. The network is secured using Proof-of-Work (PoW) protocol and staking.

To make a request, TRB token holders add TRB “tips” to the data types they want to update. Every five minutes tips are tallied up and 5 requests that received the most funding are put together into a block for mining. The first five miners to provide both the PoW challenge solution and the requested data itself get rewards. Half the tips are divided between the 5 winning miners, while the other half is burned, which helps maintain scarcity. A TRB holder can then dispute the data (for a fee) if necessary, after which other holders can vote on the dispute. The token is also used for governance.