Chainlink updates its crypto bridge tech months after a $292 million hack at a rival exposed risks
Chainlink has updated its cross-chain bridge technology (CCIP 2.0) to enhance security by allowing companies to add their own security checks and offering a menu of verifiers. This update comes five months after a $292 million hack on a rival bridge (Kelp DAO on LayerZero) exposed the risks of relying on a single verifier for cross-chain transactions. Chainlink aims to provide a more secure and robust solution for moving tokens and messages between different blockchains.
Why it matters
This update is crucial for the security and reliability of the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, as cross-chain bridges are critical infrastructure but have been targets of major hacks. Improved security can foster greater trust and adoption of blockchain interoperability solutions, protecting user assets and the integrity of the crypto market.
It lets companies add their own security checks to those transfers, with the launch coming five months after the year's biggest DeFi hack , blamed on a bridge that relied on just one of those checks.
Chainlink is best known as an oracle network, feeding blockchains outside data such as asset prices that lending and trading apps depend on. CCIP, first launched in 2023, extends into moving tokens and messages between chains.
Blockchains can't communicate directly, so moving a token from one to another depends on a bridge. The technology relies on verifiers, which confirm that a transaction really happened on the first chain before funds are released on the second. If a verifier is fooled, an attacker can withdraw money that was never deposited.
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