Oracle

An oracle is the full pricing route a market uses to value collateral against the loan asset.

collateral → oracle route → loan asset

The only question that matters:

Does this route correctly produce collateral / loan?

Oracle vs feed

A feed is one input inside the route.

An oracle is the assembled route the market actually uses.

Example:

wstETH → stETH feed → ETH / USD feed → USDC / USD feed → USDC

That market is not relying on one feed. It is relying on the full route and every assumption inside it.

For feed-level risk context, see Oracle Feed Types.

Standard oracle

A standard oracle is the normal direct route.

It usually combines price feeds and conversion feeds into one collateral / loan price.

Check:

• what collateral is being priced
• what loan asset it is priced against
• which feeds or conversions sit in between
• whether the final route matches the market pair

Meta oracle

A meta oracle wraps more than one oracle route.

Usually this means:

• a primary route
• a backup route
• logic that decides when to use each one

Check both routes. The market depends on the primary route in normal conditions and the backup route when switching happens.

Custom oracle

A custom oracle uses bespoke logic instead of a standard route.

Check the exact contract behavior. Do not assume it is a normal market-price feed just because it exposes a familiar interface.

Quick review checklist

For any market, ask:

1. What is the target pair: collateral / loan?
2. What route produces that pair?
3. What feed types are inside the route?
4. Are any legs market, fundamental, NAV, or DEX-derived?
5. Does any leg rely on hidden assumptions: liquidity, reserves, contract conversion, fallback logic, or a single pool?