Chainlink announces the launch of a cross-chain interoperability protocol for cross-chain asset transfers and messaging

Author: Gu Yu

In light of recent security incidents involving cross-chain asset bridges, Chainlink recently announced the launch of the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), primarily designed for decentralized inter-chain messaging and token asset transfers. As an open-source standard for cross-chain communication, CCIP aims to establish universal connections between hundreds of private and public blockchain networks, unlocking isolated tokens for all on-chain ecosystems and empowering cross-chain applications.
"Chainlink has partnerships with over a hundred blockchains, and many blockchains and Layer 2 solutions have already integrated with Chainlink on the mainnet. As a reliable neutral protocol for cross-chain communication between all blockchains, Chainlink is the ideal infrastructure," Chainlink stated.
The Chainlink cross-chain bridge is operated by a node committee that collectively verifies information on one chain and relays it to another chain by encrypting transactions with threshold signatures. Through the off-chain reporting protocol (OCR 2.0) in the protocol stack, CCIP can scale the number of committee-based nodes to hundreds, thereby enhancing the security of locked funds while maintaining high cost-effectiveness for users.
Additionally, CCIP will introduce a newly invented risk management system, known as the anti-fraud network, which will consist of a decentralized oracle network solely focused on monitoring for malicious activities that could lead to economic losses in CCIP services. At the same time, the anti-fraud network will include completely independent node committees, separating anti-fraud detection from the node committees responsible for monitoring CCIP.
If the regular checks of the anti-fraud network cease or its nodes detect any malicious activities, an emergency shutdown will be automatically triggered to halt specific cross-chain services, ensuring the safety of user assets.

Specifically, the Chainlink cross-chain technology stack mainly consists of four parts: user interface, programmable token bridge, cross-chain interoperability protocol (CCIP), and network infrastructure.
At the top of the technology stack is the user interface, which allows users to connect to the Chainlink programmable token bridge and start transferring tokens within the blockchain environment. Meanwhile, new and existing ecosystem projects can deploy their own interfaces in a permissionless manner, which can include wallets, aggregators, applications, exchanges, etc.
The programmable token bridge is a practical cross-chain bridge based on CCIP that allows developers to build cross-chain applications, seamlessly and securely moving their existing tokens across any blockchain.
At the same time, the programmable token bridge supports computation, enabling users and smart contracts not only to send tokens to the bridge but also to send commands to the bridge, allowing it to run custom logic around interactions with other blockchains. "Users do not need to know how to use other blockchains; they only need to send instructions to the bridge about how they want to interact with other chains, and the bridge will automatically move tokens across chains and deploy them on the target chain in atomic transactions within smart contracts," Chainlink stated.
The Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) is an open-source standard that allows smart contracts on any blockchain to send and receive data packets between smart contracts on any other blockchain network. The protocol is essentially universal, supporting any type of data delivery that smart contracts may want to deliver across chains.
In terms of network infrastructure, Chainlink's cross-chain technology stack will be supported by a decentralized network of independent, reputable oracle node operators. Chainlink nodes will run the OCR 2.0 client to achieve off-chain consensus on cross-chain transactions securely and cost-effectively.
According to the blog post, the DeFi lending protocol Celsius plans to utilize the Chainlink Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol in yield farming activities, allowing secure locked funds to be accessed through any blockchain network. It is reported that Celsius has over $16 billion in digital assets and more than 800,000 users.
In another blog post, Chainlink announced the launch of the decentralized off-chain computing solution Chainlink Keepers, which provides a decentralized off-chain computing layer for various DApps, enabling automatic execution of on-chain functions when predefined conditions occur, such as executing trades when a specific price point is reached, and has partnered with projects like Aave, PoolTogether, and Synthetix.
From the early oracle track to the current cross-chain interoperability protocol and decentralized off-chain computing solutions, Chainlink's blockchain middleware attributes are further enhanced.