In a recent development, Solv Protocol announced its decision to transition away from the blockchain interoperability protocol LayerZero due to heightened security concerns following the $292 million Kelp DAO exploit. This move involves migrating the infrastructure supporting over $700 million in tokenized Bitcoin to Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), as disclosed in a Thursday announcement.
Solv Protocol plans to phase out its use of LayerZero bridges for Corn, Berachain, Rootstock, and TAC, opting instead to standardize on Chainlink’s CCIP. Solv’s Chief Technology Officer, Will Wang, emphasized the importance of security, stating, “Security is the foundation of everything we build at Solv, and our migration to Chainlink CCIP reinforces that commitment at the highest level.” By securing SolvBTC and xSolvBTC cross-chain transfers with CCIP, the protocol aims to provide users with robust assurance through proven infrastructure.
Wang noted that this shift is designed to align Solv with market demands for reliability and institutional-grade security. Launched in 2021 on Ethereum, Solv Protocol enables users to deploy wrapped BTC and other Bitcoin-based assets across various blockchains to earn yield.
The migration follows a series of cross-chain hacks within the industry, including the Kelp DAO incident where approximately $292 million was stolen from its LayerZero-based infrastructure. Although Solv did not specifically mention Kelp DAO, it referenced these broader security concerns in its announcement.
According to Solv, this strategic shift involves decreasing risk by deprecating LayerZero bridging support for Corn, Berachain, Rootstock, and TAC and adopting Chainlink CCIP as the primary cross-chain infrastructure for over $700 million worth of tokenized BTC (SolvBTC & xSolvBTC).
Cross-chain bridges have become frequent targets in the crypto space due to their complex verification systems and substantial locked funds. High-profile incidents include Axie Infinity’s Ronin network bridge exploit, which saw a loss of $622 million in 2022, and the $230 million hack of Indian exchange WazirX in 2024, both linked to North Korean hackers.
Following its comprehensive security review, Solv Protocol decided to replace LayerZero bridges with Chainlink CCIP for SolvBTC and xSolvBTC. This decision comes as other projects like Kelp DAO also move toward using Chainlink’s infrastructure after disputes about the configurations tied to their previous setup. Johann Eid, Chainlink Labs Chief Business Officer, commented on the collaboration: “We are proud to work with the Solv team and support their migration to Chainlink CCIP as the standardized way that their wrapped Bitcoin assets are securely transferred cross-chain.”