FTSO - as simple as possible

The Flare Time Series Oracle (FTSO) is a SMART CONTRACT that runs on the FLARE NETWORK.

An FTSO "gives numbers": it endlessly provides estimations for  different types of data (this is the oracle part and it works on a 3 minutes clock, known as a price epoch for crypto pairs). The whole process is decentralized: no single party is in control of the process and it takes a lot of effort to disrupt it.

The more the better: different data providers (the "TSOs" to whom you probably have yet delegated Songbirs or Flares - it's so easy!) supplies the data to the FTSO system. Then, this information is weighted according to each provider's voting power, and a median is calculated to produce the final estimate.

Reward$$$: Songbirds or Flares - depending on the chain you considers and are working on - are rewarded to the providers that gives data closer to the median value and their vote power (achived through delegation from chain users. Mind that there's a Vote Power  Cap limit, if you are above it delegate the excess to another provider).

Rewards are accumulated in Reward Epochs (3.5 days on the Flare network, 7 days on Songbird) and can be claimed after the epoch finishes.

Delegation: Holders of $FLR or $SGB tokens can delegate them to an FTSO data provider to increase its Vote Power and earn a share of its Rewards, resulting in a mutually beneficial arrangement. Furthermore, delegated tokens are not locked, meaning that they remain in the user's control and the delegation can be removed at any time (that's one of the thing that i love the most).

Delegation requires wrapping the native $FLR and $SGB into ERC-20 $WFLR and $WSGB tokens, an operation you can reverse at any time.

Delegation 101: the easiest way to delegate your tokens is through a supported wallet like Bifrost (Hurrah to Bifrost!), or a dapp. Some FTSO data providers have already started providing these dapps as a convenience. Take a look at flaremetrics.io and pick the one you prefer.