# Resolvers

By [Uman](https://paragraph.com/@uman) · 2025-10-16

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In Symbiotic Finance, instead of relying on traditional on-chain price oracles which can be susceptible to manipulation (like flash loan attacks), the protocol uses a decentralized, human-powered system.  
  
**Resolvers are the core of this system**.

Their main job is to **monitor the price** of collateral assets (like ETH or other tokens) from various external sources (e.g., centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges, APIs). When the protocol requires a price for instance, to determine if a loan is undercollateralized and needs liquidation it requests this information. Resolvers then submit their observed price to the protocol.

**Key functions include:**

*   **Price Proposal:** Submitting price data for collateral assets.
    
*   **Liquidation Initiation:** Based on the prices they provide, resolvers can trigger the liquidation of undercollateralized vaults.
    
*   **System Integrity:** Acting as a decentralized check to ensure asset prices are accurate and not manipulated.
    

  
**How the Resolver System Works**

The process is designed to be economically secure and resistant to bad actors.

1.  **Staking:** To become a resolver, a user must **stake Symbiotic's native token (SYM)**. This stake acts as a security deposit or collateral. It ensures that resolvers have a financial incentive to act honestly.
    
2.  **Price Requests:** The protocol requests a price for an asset. Multiple resolvers submit their proposed prices.
    
3.  **Price Agreement:** The protocol uses a mechanism to determine the accepted price from the various submissions, often by taking a median or other aggregated value.
    
4.  **Dispute and Verification:** If a submitted price is challenged, it can go through a dispute resolution process. In Symbiotic, this is ultimately settled by a vote from SYM token holders, acting as a final backstop.
    

  
**Incentives and Penalties**

The system relies on a carrot-and-stick approach to ensure resolvers provide accurate data.

*   **Rewards (The Carrot):** Honest and active resolvers are rewarded for their services. When they successfully provide accurate price data that is used for a liquidation, they receive a portion of the liquidation penalty fee paid by the vault owner.
    
*   **Slashing (The Stick):** If a resolver submits a malicious or grossly inaccurate price and is successfully challenged, a portion of their staked SYM tokens is **slashed** (confiscated). This penalty makes dishonest behavior economically unviable.
    

Conclusion  
  
Resolvers are the decentralized, human-powered oracles of the Symbiotic ecosystem. They replace automated price feeds with a system of staked actors who are financially motivated to ensure the protocol receives accurate, real-world asset prices, thereby securing user funds and maintaining platform stability.

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*Originally published on [Uman](https://paragraph.com/@uman/resolvers)*