Definition
An oracle attestation is the cryptographic signature an oracle publishes after a real-world event resolves, declaring which outcome actually occurred. In a Discreet Log Contract (DLC), this single piece of signed data is what unlocks the correct payout. The oracle signs a message such as the closing price of an asset or the result of a match using a private nonce it committed to in advance, producing a signature that doubles as a decryption key.
From signature to settlement
The published attestation lets the winning party complete one of the contract's pre-signed payout transactions through adaptor signatures. Crucially, the oracle never sees the contract, never knows who is using its data, and never custodies any Bitcoin. It only signs a generic statement about the world. This separation is what makes DLCs trust-minimized: the oracle's only power is to tell the truth or lie, and lying leaves cryptographic evidence.
Attestation versus announcement
Attestation is the second of two oracle steps. First the oracle issues an announcement committing to the event and its possible outcomes ahead of time; later it issues the attestation revealing the real result. Because the oracle pre-commits to a nonce in the announcement, signing two different outcomes for the same event would expose its private key, a strong deterrent against equivocation. Multiple oracles can be combined so a contract only settles when several independent attestations agree.
Attestation works hand in hand with the oracle announcement and is consumed by the contract's contract execution transactions to release funds.
In Simple Terms
An oracle attestation is the cryptographic signature an oracle publishes after a real-world event resolves, declaring which outcome actually occurred. In a Discreet Log Contract…