Solv Protocol Will Dump LayerZero, Migrate $700M Tokenized Bitcoin Tech to Chainlink

Another crypto project is abandoning blockchain interoperability protocol LayerZero following the fallout from the $292 million Kelp DAO exploit, with research into cross-chain bridge security intensifying.

In an announcement Thursday, Solv Protocol said it did migrate the infrastructure powering more than $700 million worth of tokenized Bitcoin, from LayerZero to Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), following what it described as a broader security review of cross-chain systems.

The protocol says it is deprecating LayerZero bridge support for Corn, Berachain, Rootstock, and TAC, while standardizing the infrastructure around Chainlink’s CCIP.

“Security is the foundation of everything we build at Solv, and our migration to Chainlink CCIP reinforces that commitment at the highest level,” Solv Protocol Chief Technology Officer Will Wang said in a statement. “By fully securing cross-chain transfers of SolvBTC and xSolvBTC with CCIP, we provide users with the highest level of assurance that a proven, deep infrastructure secures all cross-chain transfers.”

According to Wang, the migration positions Solv to scale with “the reliability and institutional security guarantees that the market demands.”

Launched in 2021 on the Ethereum network, Solv Protocol is a DeFi platform built around SolvBTC – a token pegged to the value of Bitcoin – that allows users to stake wrapped BTC and other Bitcoin-based assets across multiple blockchains to earn returns.

The move comes weeks after attackers stole approximately $292 million from the infrastructure associated with Kelp DAO, a DeFi protocol that uses LayerZero’s bridge technology. Solv did not mention Kelp DAO directly in its announcement, but instead broadly referred to “recent cross-chain hacks observed in the industry” alongside an extensive security assessment.

“In accordance with this strategic migration, we are reducing our risk exposure to our existing bridging stack by deprecating SolvBTC and xSolvBTC LayerZero bridging support for Corn, Berachain, Rootstock and TAC to instead standardize on Chainlink CCIP, the most proven and proven interoperability infrastructure for all blockchains,” the company wrote.

While cross-chain bridges allow users to move assets between blockchains, they have also become one of the most attacked infrastructure pieces of crypto, as they often rely on complicated verification systems and hold large amounts of locked funds.

Previous prominent attacks on blockchain network bridges include the $622 million exploit of Axie Infinity’s Ronin network bridge in 2022, and the $230 million hack of Indian crypto exchange WazirX in 2024. Both attacks were eventually linked by researchers to North Korean state-sponsored hacking groups.

In April, LayerZero blamed the Kelp DAO attack on North Korea’s Lazarus Group, saying the project relied on a single verification setup despite recommendations to use multiple validators.

This week, Kelp DAO disputed that account and accused LayerZero of approving the configuration associated with the exploit. Kelp then announced plans to redesign its cross-chain system around Chainlink CCIP, verifying transactions through multiple independent validators instead of a single verifier.

“We are proud to work with the Solv team and support their migration to Chainlink CCIP as the standardized way their packaged Bitcoin assets are securely transferred cross-chain,” Chainlink Labs Chief Business Officer Johann Eid said in a statement. “Solv’s migration to CCIP reflects a broader shift within the DeFi industry of leading protocols adopting Chainlink to provide the highest level of security needed to bring the next billion users on-chain.”