BitGo Shifts WBTC Cross-Chain Infrastructure to Chainlink CCIP

Announced migrations reach nearly $15 billion

Previously announced LayerZero-to-Chainlink migrations covered approximately $7.24 billion in assets. Adding WBTC’s market capitalization produces a combined total of about $14.6 billion.

A Chainlink representative separately said the value committed to moving from LayerZero to Chainlink totaled approximately $7.2 billion as of July 2026, with WBTC taking the overall amount to nearly $15 billion. Another calculation placed the combined value at approximately $14.5 billion.

Projects identified as moving or planning to move cross-chain infrastructure to Chainlink included Mantle, Kelp, Lombard, Solv Protocol, Virtuals, Re and Kraken. The group includes several Bitcoin-backed products, including Kraken’s kBTC and Solv Protocol’s SolvBTC and xSolvBTC.

Kelp exploit intensified bridge-security scrutiny

The migration wave accelerated after attackers drained $292 million from Kelp DAO’s LayerZero-powered rsETH bridge earlier in 2026. The incident focused attention on how LayerZero applications could configure the verification systems responsible for approving cross-chain messages.

LayerZero used a configurable Decentralized Verifier Network model that allowed clients to determine how many independent verifiers were required to authorize a message. Kelp DAO’s rsETH bridge used a 1-of-1 DVN configuration, meaning a single verifier could approve a cross-chain transaction. That verifier was operated by LayerZero Labs.

Attackers compromised the off-chain remote procedure call infrastructure feeding information to the verifier, allowing them to forge a cross-chain message and drain the funds. Analysts later found that 47% of LayerZero OApp contracts were using a 1-of-1 DVN configuration.

LayerZero subsequently updated its security framework to prevent applications from using configurations of the kind implicated in the Kelp DAO exploit. The incident involved a LayerZero-powered bridge and its application-specific verifier setup rather than a reported loss involving BitGo’s WBTC deployment.

BitGo’s former configuration was more restrictive. The company selected LayerZero in 2024 to extend WBTC to Avalanche and BNB Chain, requiring approval from BitGo’s own verifier and either LayerZero or Polyhedra before a transfer could proceed.

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Chainlink emphasizes verifier redundancy and transfer controls

Chainlink said each CCIP bridge is protected by at least 16 independent, security-reviewed node operators with established records of uptime and reliability. CCIP also supports programmable transfer safeguards, including rate limits and configurable controls designed to restrict how assets move between networks.

“These controls aim to act as automatic circuit breakers, containing potential incidents before they cascade,” the announcement said.

The announcement also said CCIP was the only cross-chain protocol holding both SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 compliance certifications. BitGo’s planned structure allows the company to use Chainlink’s interoperability infrastructure while preserving administrative control over WBTC contracts and issuer-level operating restrictions.

Chainlink’s public directory already listed CCIP-enabled WBTC pools on Ethereum and Ronin when the migration was announced. BitGo and Chainlink did not provide a definitive completion date for the broader transition, making the August announcement a planned or ongoing migration rather than confirmation that every WBTC deployment had already moved.

WBTC remains the largest wrapped-bitcoin token

WBTC is a tokenized representation of bitcoin designed for use on smart-contract networks, including decentralized finance applications involving trading, lending and collateral. It was launched in 2019 and became the first and largest wrapped-bitcoin token.

WBTC once represented effectively the entire wrapped-bitcoin market, with more than $15 billion in circulation. At the time of the announcement, it accounted for approximately 45% of the combined coin market cap of wrapped-bitcoin tokens.

WBTC’s total market value had declined significantly since September 2025, largely alongside the bitcoin price, while the token’s overall supply remained relatively stable.

BitGo’s WBTC custody structure had already faced scrutiny after the company began working with Justin Sun-linked BiT Global through a multi-jurisdictional arrangement. BiT Global received two of the three keys associated with the multisignature setup controlling the underlying bitcoin reserves.

Coinbase later delisted WBTC under its internal listing standards and launched cbBTC. BiT Global sued Coinbase, alleging anticompetitive conduct, but a federal judge ruled that Coinbase had the right to remove WBTC. BiT Global later dropped the case.

BitGo retained full ownership and control of the WBTC token contracts despite the reserve-custody arrangement. The Chainlink migration changes the infrastructure used to transfer WBTC between blockchains but does not change WBTC into a Chainlink-issued asset or move ownership of the token contracts away from BitGo.