Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) is the industry standard for digital asset and data transfer utilized by leading blockchains, layer-2s, DeFi protocols, DEXs, and traditional financial institutions to unlock new use cases and markets for tokenized assets. The protocol leverages Chainlink’s battle-tested decentralized oracle network, which has enabled over $18 trillion in transaction value across 20+ blockchains, to achieve the highest level of cross-chain security.
During SmartCon 2024, Chainlink introduced an upgraded testnet version of CCIP that makes it easier to enhance new and existing native tokens with cross-chain interoperability. Today, CCIP v1.5 went live on mainnet, giving all developers on supported blockchains access to new features including the Cross-Chain Token (CCT) standard and the Token Manager front-end web interface.
CCT’s self-serve, permissionless standard allows developers to launch a new CCT or turn an existing token into a CCT within minutes. Developers retain full ownership and control over their token contracts, CCIP token pools, and customized implementation logic including rate limits across all blockchains.
CCTs leverage key CCIP benefits including Programmable Token Transfers, which atomically transfer tokens with instructions, and a separate Risk Management Network, which independently monitors cross-chain transactions for suspicious or anomalous behavior. CCTs are instantly transferable without size limitations or required liquidity pools while pre-audited token pool contracts enable zero-slippage cross-chain transfers.
In addition to the Token Manager interface, which provides no-code guided CCT deployment and configuration tools, CCIP v1.5 significantly improves the developer experience with a new CCIP SDK built on leading web3 development framework, Wagmi, alongside upgrades to the CCIP Explorer and expanded security and privacy capabilities.
Aave’s decentralized stablecoin (GHO) and Solv Protocol’s wrapped Bitcoin (SolvBTC) are among top protocols that have already adopted the CCT standard, while Lombard Finance, the largest provider of Bitcoin liquid staking tokens (LSTs) by market share, is testing v1.5’s new Token Developer Attestation feature for their flagship LST, LBTC.
To accelerate the adoption of CCIP’s newest upgrades, Chainlink partnered with Cyfrin Updraft, which released a course helping developers learn how to build with v1.5, as well as web3 development platform thirdweb, which allows developers to create and deploy CCTs from its Explore dashboard.
To learn more about CCIP v1.5, read Chainlink’s official blog post.