Stale Price Feed

Definition ∞ A stale price feed refers to a data stream that provides outdated or inaccurate asset price information to a financial application or smart contract. This occurs when the oracle responsible for delivering real-time price data fails to update promptly, leading to decisions based on incorrect market conditions. In decentralized finance, a stale price feed can cause significant financial losses through liquidations, arbitrage opportunities, or incorrect protocol calculations. Maintaining current data is essential for system integrity.
Context ∞ The issue of stale price feeds is a critical discussion point in decentralized finance (DeFi), where protocols heavily rely on accurate and timely external data. Exploits stemming from outdated oracle data have resulted in substantial losses for various DeFi projects. Developers continuously work to implement robust oracle solutions with frequent updates, redundancy, and decentralized verification mechanisms to prevent such vulnerabilities. News frequently reports on incidents where stale price feeds led to market manipulation or protocol exploits.