Define ‘On-Chain’ versus ‘Off-Chain’ Execution.

'On-chain' execution refers to a transaction or computation that is processed, verified, and recorded directly on the blockchain ledger by the network's consensus mechanism. 'Off-chain' execution refers to processes that occur outside the main blockchain, such as a price feed from an Oracle or computation in a layer-2 scaling solution.

Smart contracts are typically executed on-chain for finality, but often rely on off-chain data.

What Is “Double-Spending” in Cryptocurrency?
What Is the Difference between an On-Chain and Off-Chain Computation in an Oracle System?
How Is Data Provenance Tracked in a Decentralized Oracle System?
What Is an Interchange Fee in Credit Card Processing?
What Is the Role of Oracles in Providing External Data to Smart Contracts for Options Trading?
What Is the Risk of a CEX Processing a Withdrawal Too Quickly on an Unconfirmed Deposit?
How Does the Choice of Network Card (NIC) Impact the Processing of Low-Latency Data?
What Is the Concept of “State Bloat” on a Blockchain?

Glossar