API in general stands for Application Programming Interfaces. API3 is a decentralized platform designed to connect smart contracts with real-world data. Its white paper was published in September 2020 where it stated that its main aim was to resolve the issue of connectivity between smart contracts and APIs.
Another one of its goals is to help build, manage, monetize and scale decentralized versions of APIs. The protocol also has a solution for the blockchain oracle problem. It does so by allowing the API providers to run their own nodes.
After the whitepaper in September 2020, the token went live through a sale in December 2020 and earned millions of dollars.
Founder Of API3
The protocol has three founders — Heikki Vanttinen, Burak Benligiray, and Saša Milić.
They started the protocol with the aim of fixing issues that have been plaguing the blockchain industry one of which is to supply blockchains with off-chain data.
Without the off-chain data, the decentralized ledgers wouldn’t be able to know the price of the coins. According to Vanttinen, decentralized APIs can be used to provide data in a better, faster and more transparent manner. This would make blockchain transactions faster and more efficient.