BitGo's cryptocastodian has officially announced the choice of the Chainlink protocol for the WBTC infrastructure. The company will completely replace the previously used LayerZero protocol as the sole provider of cross-chain solutions. All future assets of the organization will receive full CCIP support by default. The implemented Chainlink Cross-Chain Token provides for a single version of WBTC in each blockchain. The previous model created derivative copies of the token through a special bridge. The token contracts and the established transfer limits remain under the full control of the company. Mike Belsh, CEO of BitGo, emphasized the priority of security when choosing technologies. Each transmission line is serviced by at least sixteen independent operators of specialized nodes. The nodes are distributed across various organizations, geographical regions, and hosting providers. The protocol also allows the issuer to independently set the speed limits for cross-network transfers. The exact timing of the transition completion in all supported networks of the company has not yet been disclosed.

The total asset value of the issuers who announced the switch from LayerZero to Chainlink has reached almost fifteen billion dollars. Prior to the current announcement, this figure was about $7.2 billion. Previously, similar decisions were made by Kraken, Solv Protocol and Mantle. The Lombard, Aave and Kelp projects have also joined the transition. The main impetus was the major hacking of the rsETH bridge of the Kelp protocol based on LayerZero. The platform used a configuration with a single transaction verifier. The role of the sole verifier was performed by LayerZero Labs itself. The attackers have successfully compromised external RPC servers and submitted fake data. Hackers have withdrawn two hundred and ninety-two million dollars from a vulnerable platform. In response, LayerZero completely rebuilt the security and abandoned the single-verifier scheme.

The LayerZero configuration used by BitGo initially worked according to a different security principle. The company connected this protocol in 2024 to work with Avalanche and BNB Chain. Each operation required mandatory double verification by BitGo's own validator. Additionally, one of the two external LayerZero or Polyhedra verifiers was used. The LayerZero project team officially acknowledged the technical error in May. Using a single verifier to protect large transactions was called the wrong decision. Developers continue to actively improve the security architecture of inter-network bridges. WBTC pools with CCIP support have already appeared in the Chainlink catalog for Ethereum. The Ronin network for cross-network transfers also received support for the new standard. Market participants are closely monitoring the migration of liquidity between different cross-chain protocols.