DeFi

LayerZero

Chainlink

Gains

<p>Chainlink's (<a href="https://x.com/chainlink" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@chainlink</a>) Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has attracted more than $3 billion in total value locked as a wave of DeFi protocols move away from LayerZero in the weeks following a high-profile bridge exploit, according to reporting by The Block.</p>
<h2 id="the-exploit-that-triggered-the-shift">The Exploit That Triggered the Shift</h2>
<p>The catalyst was a $292 million attack on Kelp DAO's LayerZero-powered rsETH bridge on April 18. <cite>Attackers linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group stole roughly 116,500 rsETH in what was not a smart contract hack, but a sophisticated attack on off-chain infrastructure, compromising internal RPC nodes and DDoS-ing external ones to feed false data to a single-point-of-failure verification network.</cite> The attack exposed a structural weakness: <cite>data from Dune Analytics showed that 47% of roughly 2,665 active LayerZero OApp contracts ran a 1-of-1 DVN configuration over a 90-day period, with more than $4.5 billion in associated market value exposed to the same class of risk.</cite></p>
<p><cite>LayerZero initially characterized its protocol as having "functioned exactly as intended,"</cite> but later issued a public apology. <cite>The company acknowledged it should not have allowed its DVN to serve as the sole verifier for high-value transactions, writing: "We believe developers should choose their own security configurations, but we made a mistake by allowing our DVN to act as a 1/1 DVN for high-value transactions."</cite><cite>LayerZero has since begun rolling out infrastructure and operational improvements and will no longer support 1-of-1 Decentralized Verifier Network configurations.</cite></p>
<h2 id="who-has-migrated-and-why">Who Has Migrated and Why</h2>
<p><cite>Kelp DAO, Bitcoin DeFi platform Solv Protocol, and Re, an onchain reinsurance protocol, account for a combined $2.57 billion of the migrated TVL, according to a Chainlink representative.</cite><cite>Kraken joined the migration, replacing LayerZero with Chainlink CCIP as the exclusive cross-chain service for its wrapped crypto assets including kBTC, citing risks exposed by the Kelp DAO exploit.</cite><cite>A Chainlink spokesperson noted that over $3 billion in TVL has flowed to Chainlink in recent weeks, including a parallel move from Tydro, the primary lending protocol on the Kraken-supported Ink blockchain.</cite></p>
<p>The appeal of CCIP is largely architectural. <cite>CCIP requires 16 independent node operators to validate cross-chain transactions and features native rate limits, along with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2 certifications.</cite><cite>Rival exchange Coinbase also selected Chainlink CCIP as the sole bridge for about $7 billion in wrapped tokens last year.</cite></p>
<p>For LayerZero, the fallout has been reputational as well as commercial. <cite>The crypto community has rallied in support following the Kelp DAO attack, raising over $320 million via the DeFi United campaign to help restore the backing of rsETH and make affected parties whole.</cite> Whether that goodwill translates into a recovery of protocol activity remains to be seen.</p>
<p><strong>Sources:</strong><br><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/401368/chainlink-ccip-gains-over-2-5-billion-tvl-from-protocols-migrating-layerzero-kraken-bitcoin-latest" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The Block: Chainlink CCIP gains over $2.5 billion in TVL from protocols migrating from LayerZero</a><br><a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/05/14/kraken-to-replace-layerzero-with-chainlink-to-bridge-assets-across-blockchains" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinDesk: Kraken to replace LayerZero with Chainlink for kBTC, future wrapped assets</a><br><a href="https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/kelpdao-bridge-exploit-april-2026/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Chainalysis: Inside the KelpDAO Bridge Exploit</a></p>

Chainlink Ccip Gains 3b USD In TVL As Protocols Flee Layerzero

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