Crypto · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
Chainlink Launches CCIP 2.0, Letting Companies Add Custom Security Checks for Cross-Chain Transfers
CCIP 2.0 enables issuers to add verifiers, atop Chainlink's 16-operator default network. Introduces configurable settlement and built-in KYC/AML compliance checks for transfers.
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CCIP 2.0 Adds Checks
Chainlink launched CCIP 2.0 on Monday, upgrading its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol to let companies add their own security checks to transfers between blockchains. CCIP 2.0 builds on Chainlink's default 16-operator verifier network, while allowing applications to add additional verifiers by running them themselves or hiring outside providers such as Infosys and Nethermind. The upgrade follows the April $292 million Kelp DAO hack, which was blamed on a LayerZero bridge setup that relied on a single verifier.
CCIP 2.0 also changes a safeguard it previously promoted, because its Risk Management Network no longer plays that role and independent checks can now come from optional verifiers instead. Existing integrations continue to work with CCIP 2.0 without any changes, while it has not named any institution using the new verifiers yet.
How Verifiers Work
Verifiers confirm a transaction really happened on the first chain before funds are released on the second, warning that a fooled verifier can let an attacker withdraw money that was never deposited. CCIP 2.0 lets companies choose extra verifiers, running their own or hiring outside providers such as Infosys and Nethermind, and those sit on top of Chainlink's default network of 16 independent node operators. The upgrade also changes Chainlink's Risk Management Network, because that separate set of nodes that double-checked transactions no longer plays that role.
CCIP 2.0 introduces user attestations through Cross-Chain Verifiers, where a CCV independently verifies and cryptographically signs transactions before CCIP can execute them on the destination chain. CCIP 2.0 also includes configurable finality speeds, letting institutions fine-tune how quickly transactions settle from near-instant transfers to waiting for full source-chain finality.
Security, Compliance, Adoption
CCIP 2.0 connects to its Automated Compliance Engine, or ACE, to apply Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering rules, sanctions screening, transaction limits, and approved-sender lists to transfers. Chainlink also lets issuers set custom block-confirmation thresholds so some transfers execute before finality, and it said issuers can charge an added fee for doing so. Chainlink reported CCIP secures more than $84 billion in cross-chain token value, and it said Aave, Re, and Maple have adopted faster settlement options for their cross-chain tokens.
Chainlink has launch partners and industry supporters including Infosys, Nethermind, and Amazon Web Services, and it said CCIP 2.0 is now live and available to all institutions and digital asset issuers. CCIP 2.0 is designed to reinforce CCIP's position as the only interoperability standard designed to meet the security, compliance, and speed requirements of the world's largest financial institutions.