A wave of protocols managing over $4 billion in Bitcoin-backed assets is migrating to Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), spurred by the $292 million Kelp DAO exploit on a LayerZero-powered bridge in April 2026. Lombard Finance announced the largest single move, shifting more than $1 billion in LBTC and BTC.b from LayerZero to CCIP, while Coinbase Wrapped BTC (cbBTC) expanded to the payments-focused Layer-1 network Tempo using the same infrastructure.
Lombard said its internal security review following the Kelp incident prompted the decision. CCIP will become its exclusive cross-chain infrastructure across Solana, Etherlink, Berachain, Corn, and TAC, and LayerZero usage on Morph and Swell will be fully deprecated. The protocol praised Chainlink’s defense-in-depth architecture, 16+ independent node operators per bridge lane, built-in rate limits, and institutional certifications including SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001. Co-founder Jacob Phillips emphasized the need for infrastructure that matches Lombard’s spotless security record and 100% uptime since launch.
Separately, Tempo—a Stripe and Paradigm-incubated L1—adopted CCIP to bring cbBTC, with over $5 billion circulating supply, to its network. The integration gives institutional and DeFi users access to Bitcoin-backed liquidity for lending, trading, and yield products, backed by the same enterprise-grade security. Chainlink noted each CCIP bridge lane is guarded by at least 16 security-reviewed node operators and native rate limits that act as circuit breakers.
The moves are part of a broader industry pivot. After the Kelp DAO exploit, Kelp itself, Solv Protocol, Re, and Kraken all announced or began migrations to CCIP, collectively representing an estimated $4 billion in assets. Kraken cited decentralized node operations and cross-chain controls in its decision to move kBTC and future wrapped assets. The trend highlights how protocols are reassessing bridge security and risk controls after the high-value loss, with Chainlink emerging as a preferred standard for institutional-grade cross-chain transfers.
