Chainlink is pleased to announce that the Chainlink Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has officially entered general availability (GA).
Any developer can now permissionlessly use CCIP “to securely transfer onboarded tokens cross-chain, send arbitrary messages to smart contracts on another integrated blockchain, or simultaneously send data and value together through CCIP’s unique support for Programmable Token Transfers.”
Supported blockchains now reportedly “include Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Kroma, Optimism, Polygon, and WEMIX, with many more to come in the future.”
CCIP’s arbitrary messaging capabilities “enable developers to create cross-chain smart contracts that can send data to and trigger function calls on smart contracts deployed on other blockchains while CCIP’s token transfers enable both users and smart contracts to transfer tokens cross-chain such as ETH, USDC, LINK, and more.”
Additional blockchains and tokens “will continue to be onboarded. If you are a token issuer and are interested in listing your token on CCIP, reach out here.”
Chainlink are also working on “enabling simpler, more streamlined, and more self-serve processes for onboarding token issuers to significantly decrease onboarding time and improve the overall developer experience.”
CCIP GA is taking place at a key moment in time, “made possible by the introduction of several new in-demand features, including a hyper-secure bridging application, as well as an acceleration in the number of integrations and the cross-chain volume processed.”
Some notable milestones, deployments, and highlights we’ve been working towards over the past few months that paved the way for a secure launch of CCIP GA include:
- Launching Transporter, a hyper-secure and intuitive bridging app—built in association with the Chainlink Foundation, with support from Chainlink Labs. Transporter enables anyone to easily and securely transfer their token cross-chain via CCIP. Start using Transporter today.
- Introducing support for Native ETH token transfers through the addition of a new “lock and unlock” token transfer mechanism, which complements the existing “burn and mint” and “lock and mint” methods of transfer.
- Updating CCIP’s pricing model to make CCIP one of the most cost-efficient options for securely and reliably transferring a wide range of tokens and messages cross-chain, ultimately accelerating transaction volume, high-value use cases, and overall cross-chain adoption.
- Adding token transfer support for USDC, one of the most widely used stablecoins in DeFi, through a collaboration between Circle and Chainlink. Notably, CCIP supports native USDC, meaning dApps, developers, and users can interact with the canonical USDC token, resolving liquidity fragmentation and providing a superior user experience.
Furthermore, CCIP’s unique support “for Programmable Token Transfers means smart contracts can transfer USDC along with additional instructions on what to do with the tokens once they arrive on the destination chain.”
Realizing 900%+ growth in the number of cross-chain transactions and “a 4,000%+ growth in cross-chain transfer volume processed by CCIP during the Early Access phase in Q1 2024 compared to Q4 2023.”
Chainlink have also seen multiple transactions “of ~$1M USDC, showcasing CCIP’s ability to secure large amounts of value over an extended period of time.”
Aave, the largest DeFi lending market by TVL, “announced an integration of CCIP to enable cross-chain transfers of the decentralized stablecoin GHO.”
The integration is currently live “on various testnet networks and will enhance GHO’s utility and accessibility once deployed on mainnet.”
Witnessing increased transaction volume “from dApps building on top of CCIP, including XSwap—a cross-chain protocol and Chainlink BUILD member—and Kryptomon—a multi-chain, NFT-driven game saga.”
Metis selected CCIP as its “canonical token bridge infrastructure for new tokens.”
By upgrading to CCIP, users of Metis’ layer-2 network “will realize faster token transfers from Metis to Ethereum (from seven days down to minutes) and benefit from Programmable Token Transfers.”
WEMADE, one of South Korea’s largest game developers, “integrated CCIP on WEMIX mainnet as its exclusive cross-chain infrastructure. CCIP now connects the AAA game NIGHT CROWS across six chains.”