One of the quiet problems in DeFi is that a lot of important logic still happens off-chain trade execution engines, performance checks, risk calculations, etc. We just kinda… trust that it was done honestly.
I came across a write-up about verifiable compute being used for on-chain trading, and it honestly feels like a missing puzzle piece for trust minimized finance.
👉 Blog: https://oasis.net/blog/carrot-verifiable-compute-onchain-trading
What’s the core idea?
Heavy computation runs off-chain (because it has to gas limits, latency, complexity), but the result is cryptographically proven on-chain.
So instead of trusting a server or trading platform, the blockchain verifies that:
the computation followed the agreed rules
the output wasn’t manipulated
the result maps correctly to on-chain actions
No “trust me bro” APIs.
Why this matters for trading
In trading setups (especially prop trading or funded accounts), disputes usually come from:
opaque performance metrics
unverifiable execution logic
centralized rule enforcement
With verifiable compute:
profit/loss calculations can be proven
strategy constraints can be enforced transparently
rewards or penalties can be triggered on-chain based on proofs
That’s a huge upgrade over today’s Web2-style dashboards backed by a database.
Bigger picture (beyond this project)
This isn’t just about trading.
Verifiable compute unlocks:
pay-per-request APIs that prove work was done
AI/ML inference with provable outputs
off-chain analytics whose results can be trusted on-chain
automation without blind trust in bots
Chainlink, ZK systems, and other infra projects are all moving in this direction for the same reason: blockchains can’t compute everything, but they can verify everything.
Why I think this is important
We talk a lot about decentralization, but most “real” logic still runs somewhere off-chain with no guarantees.
Verifiable compute feels like the bridge:
performance off-chain
trust on-chain
If this pattern sticks, it could quietly reshape how DeFi, trading platforms, and even AI agents interact with smart contracts.
Curious to hear thoughts do you see verifiable compute becoming standard infra, or is it still too complex for mainstream adoption?
Top comments (2)
This hits on something that doesn’t get enough attention: most DeFi “decentralization” still stops at the UI boundary.
What I like about the Oasis angle (ROFL + TEEs) is the pragmatism. Instead of forcing everything on-chain or waiting for ZK to be cheap enough for heavy logic, it treats verification as the trust anchor, not execution. That’s a much better fit for trading, risk engines, and performance evaluation where latency and complexity matter.
The carrot example makes the point well: once PnL, rules, and execution logic are verifiable, a whole class of disputes and “trust me” assumptions just disappears. That feels like real progress toward trust-minimized finance, not just better dashboards.
I agree this won’t be trivial infra to adopt, but it feels inevitable. As soon as value depends on off-chain decisions, verifiable compute stops being “nice to have” and becomes table stakes.
This hits an important nerve. Off-chain logic has always been DeFi’s weakest trust assumption, especially for trading and risk systems. Verifiable compute flips that by letting you keep performance off-chain while making correctness enforceable on-chain. Feels like one of those infra shifts that won’t be flashy, but will quietly become default as systems get more complex.