Chainlink Upgrade Gives Institutions Their Own Sign-Off on Cross-Chain Token Transfers

Chainlink launched CCIP 2.0 on Monday, a new version of its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol in which institutions and token issuers can make their own approval a required step before tokens or messages move from one blockchain to another.

The main addition is the Cross-Chain Verifier, or CCV. An issuer can operate one itself or pay an outside provider to run it, and it must sign off on a transaction before CCIP executes it on the receiving chain. Chainlink’s default Committee Verifier, a group of 16 independent node operators who have to agree on every transfer, still signs too. Chainlink named Infosys and Nethermind among the firms building CCVs for clients.

The upgrade also retires Chainlink’s Risk Management Network, an independent group of nodes that reviewed each transaction a second time, as a standalone safeguard, CoinDesk reported. Chainlink said the new optional verifiers can now supply that kind of check, according to the report.

Issuers can also apply KYC, anti-money laundering and sanctions screening to each transfer, and choose how long a transfer waits for finality. Chainlink said Aave, Maple and reinsurance platform Re have adopted the faster option for their tokens.

“Institutions need a neutral standard for moving digital assets across chains,” Johann Eid, chief business officer at Chainlink Labs, said in the announcement.

Get Unchained’s crypto news in your inbox with the free Unchained Daily newsletter.

Verifiers confirm that tokens were locked or burned on the source chain before matching tokens are issued on the other side. Kelp DAO’s rsETH bridge, built on Chainlink competitor LayerZero, depended on a single verifier when an attacker pushed a forged message through it on April 18, releasing 116,500 rsETH worth about $292 million with no deposits behind them. LayerZero later tied the attack to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

Under CCIP 2.0, an added verifier can’t clear a transfer on its own, since Chainlink’s committee must also sign. Kelp said in May it was moving rsETH to CCIP, and last week it sued LayerZero, alleging the company had approved that single-verifier configuration.

Chainlink said CCIP carries more than $84 billion in cross-chain token value, and that over $15 billion moved onto it in the last four months, including BitGo’s WBTC and Coinbase’s cbBTC. It said Bitcoin yield platform Lombard is building custom verification into its tokens with the new CCVs.

Related Listen: Why Robinhood Chain Saw Memecoins Take Off Before Real World Assets

{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@id":"https:\/\/unchainedcrypto.com\/chainlink-upgrade-gives-institutions-their-own-sign-off-on-cross-chain-token-transfers\/#arve-youtube-xlrnvchm43a","@type":"VideoObject","embedURL":"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/xlRnvChm43A?feature=oembed&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=1&autoplay=0"}

The post Chainlink Upgrade Gives Institutions Their Own Sign-Off on Cross-Chain Token Transfers appeared first on Unchained.