$7.2 billion migrates from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP as Mantle exits
Key Points
- NEW YORK — More than $7.2 billion in cross-chain and wrapped assets have migrated from LayerZero to Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) since May, marking a significant shift in blockchain infrastructure preferences as Mantle became the latest major project to abandon LayerZero's technology.
- Mantle announced it is migrating its Super Portal, co-developed with Bybit, from LayerZero's Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard to Chainlink's Cross-Chain Token (CCT) standard. The Super Portal, which manages more than $2.5 billion in value locked, enables transfers of the MNT token between Ethereum and Solana, with support for additional blockchain networks planned. The migration is scheduled to take place between July 9 and July 15, during which the Super Portal will be suspended.
- The exodus from LayerZero accelerated following the $292 million Kelp bridge exploit earlier in 2026, which intensified scrutiny of LayerZero-powered bridge configurations. Kelp subsequently announced it would migrate more than $1.5 billion in assets to Chainlink CCIP. Other major projects have followed suit: Solv Protocol moved $700 million in tokenized bitcoin, Lombard migrated more than $1 billion, Virtuals Protocol transferred $700 million, Kraken moved $330 million in wrapped assets, Re relocated $475 million, and Yuzu Money transferred $54.5 million.
Security Concerns Drive Infrastructure Overhaul
Chainlink CCIP and LayerZero both enable token holders to move assets between blockchains, a fundamental requirement as cryptocurrency markets fragment across competing networks. However, bridges between different blockchains have emerged as one of crypto's largest security vulnerabilities, with a single failure capable of exposing hundreds of millions of dollars in user assets.
Read Next
Fed Chair Communication Strategy Raises Transparency Questions
9 days ago
Dow Jones Futures Trigger Sell Signal; Apple Earnings, Iran News, Fed Meeting Loom
10 days ago
Mantle's decision reflects growing confidence in Chainlink's approach to cross-chain security. The migration will utilize Chainlink CCIP's decentralized oracle network to secure MNT token transfers. Under the new CCT standard, Mantle gains direct control over token pools and transfer settings, a capability the company said was essential as it expands MNT to additional blockchain networks and tokenized asset markets.
Emily Bao, a key advisor at Mantle, stated in the announcement: "As tokenized financial assets move from concept to scale, the infrastructure that carries them across chains cannot be an afterthought." This statement underscores the industry's recognition that cross-chain infrastructure security must be treated as a foundational concern rather than a secondary consideration.
Related coverage: Fed Chair Communication Strategy Raises Transparency Questions
The technical transition comes at a critical moment for the broader crypto ecosystem. Existing MNT holdings on Ethereum and Solana, along with MNT activity on Byreal and Bybit, will remain unaffected during the migration period. The scheduled maintenance window demonstrates the coordination required to transition assets of this magnitude between competing bridge infrastructures.
Mantle's $2.5 billion migration represents a substantial portion of the total $7.24 billion in announced migrations from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP, underscoring how quickly institutional confidence can shift within cryptocurrency infrastructure markets. The precedent established by Kelp and Lombard—each moving more than $1 billion—created momentum for other projects to evaluate their own bridge strategies.
Why this matters: The shift of $7.2 billion away from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP within three months signals that security infrastructure choices now directly determine which protocols attract and retain major asset flows, fundamentally reshaping competition in the cross-chain bridge market.
Market Outlook
Chainlink CCIP's market dominance in cross-chain infrastructure will likely expand as regulatory scrutiny of bridge security intensifies and more projects above $1 billion in TVL prioritize oracle-backed solutions over peer-to-peer models. Expect continued migrations through 2026 as risk management becomes increasingly central to protocol selection criteria.
Sources: AP, Reuters, ESPN, Bloomberg, BBC and other international news outlets.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Content is based on publicly available news sources.
Markets Desk
The NewsOracle Markets Desk covers stock markets, cryptocurrency, economic policy and breaking financial news from Wall Street and global exchanges.
Latest coverage: Crypto
