Chainlink CCIP is now live on the mainnet. Learn more about its technical features and application scenarios in this article

We are very pleased to announce that the Chainlink Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has officially landed on Avalanche, Ethereum, Optimism, and Polygon, launching the mainnet early access phase. Multiple mainstream DeFi protocols in the derivatives and lending tracks have integrated CCIP. Among them, Synthetix has been launched on the CCIP mainnet; in addition, BGD Labs has also officially integrated the mainnet CCIP into the Aave protocol.
The CCIP will be open to all developers on five testnets on July 20: Arbitrum Goerli, Avalanche Fuji, Ethereum Sepolia, Optimism Goerli, and Polygon Mumbai.
Connecting the multi-chain world
Web3 has now entered the multi-chain era. There are hundreds of blockchains, L2s, sidechains, subnets, appchains, and parachain environments for developers and users to choose from. These emerging on-chain ecosystems drive innovation and technology adoption, but also disperse applications, on-chain assets, and market liquidity across isolated networks. In addition, there are many types of existing cross-chain solutions, and protocols and blockchains use a variety of different technology stacks, which are generally insecure, resulting in a cumulative theft of more than $2 billion in cross-chain assets. The lack of interoperability hinders innovation and slows down the pace of Web3's large-scale application.
However, solving this problem is difficult. We not only need to develop good products, but also establish standards that the entire industry follows to achieve interoperability and composability. Building cross-chain standards requires taking into account three dimensions: security, flexibility, and community support. The reason for ensuring security is that the process of assets crossing chains cannot be mistaken. And flexibility is because this standard must be applicable to all potential application scenarios and compatible with all deployed blockchains. The last one is community support, which means that this standard must be adopted by the majority of community members to be valuable. Chainlink has established a unified industry standard for Web3 data. With the support of all users and partners, we have been able to build a strong community. In summary, Chainlink is in a unique position to further expand on the established standards, use it to solve cross-chain problems, and promote a new round of innovation in Web3.
Web2 requires TCP/IP protocol to connect isolated computer networks. Similarly, Web3 also needs interoperability standards to connect isolated blockchain networks.
CCIP is the most secure, reliable and easy-to-use interoperability protocol that can be used to build cross-chain applications and services. Developers can use the Arbitrary Messaging function to flexibly build their own cross-chain solutions. Not only that, CCIP can also implement the Simplified Token Transfer function. Therefore, the protocol can use a token pool controlled and audited by itself to transfer tokens across chains without customized code, and it takes much less time than developing a cross-chain bridge from scratch.
CCIP is powered by Chainlink’s decentralized oracle network, which has a proven track record of securing tens of billions of dollars in assets and achieving over $8 trillion in on-chain transaction value. CCIP shares the same infrastructure as other services already launched by Chainlink, so there are almost no new trust assumptions to add. If your dApp already has Chainlink Price Feeds integrated, there is no reason not to choose CCIP for cross-chain interactions. CCIP also adds additional security mechanisms that other cross-chain solutions cannot match. For example, you can set a rate limit on the number of cross-chain tokens at will. In addition, a separate Active Risk Management (ARM) network has been established, which is responsible for monitoring the validity of all cross-chain transactions.
Developers, applications, and enterprises can use CCIP to unlock a range of use cases, such as:
Cross-chain token assets: Use a unified interface to move tokens across chains without having to develop your own cross-chain bridges. Cross-chain collateral assets: Publish cross-chain lending applications, where users can deposit collateral assets on one chain and then borrow assets on another chain. Cross-chain liquidity pledge tokens: Move liquidity pledge tokens across different blockchains to increase the utilization of tokens in DeFi applications on other chains. Cross-chain NFTs: Users can mint NFTs on one chain and receive them on another chain. Cross-chain account abstraction: Develop smart contract wallets that integrate CCIP to improve the user experience of cross-chain call functions. For example, users can use the same wallet to sign transactions on any blockchain. Cross-chain games: Create a gaming experience that spans any blockchain, where players can store high-value game items on a relatively secure chain and perform game operations on a relatively scalable chain. Cross-chain data storage and computing: Develop data storage solutions that allow users to store arbitrary data on the target chain and perform operations on the data based on transactions on the original chain. Mainstream applications in the market are using CCIP to achieve cross-chain interaction Synthetix integrates CCIP to achieve cross-chain liquidity
Synthetix is ​​a DeFi protocol that provides liquidity for the on-chain derivatives and financial instrument ecosystem. Synthetix V3 recently added the Synth Teleporter feature, which allows users to easily transfer Synth liquidity across chains. The specific method is to destroy the sUSD (the accounting unit of the Synthetix protocol) on the original chain, and then mint an equal amount of sUSD on the target chain.
Synth Teleporter uses Chainlink CCIP to safely and reliably burn and mint tokens across chains. This unique model can effectively improve capital efficiency without creating liquidity pools. Synth Teleporter allows Synthetix liquidity to flow to where the demand is highest and circumvents the limitations of traditional token bridges.
“Security is of paramount importance when it comes to moving assets across chains, which is why we’ve integrated Chainlink CCIP into our cross-chain Synth Teleporter. We are an early adopter of Chainlink Data Feeds, so we’re excited to be one of the first to use CCIP and benefit from the new features it unlocks for Synthetix.” - Kain Warwick, Founder of Synthetix
With CCIP, Synthetix can safely transfer tokens across chains using the burn-and-mint model. Aave uses CCIP to achieve cross-chain governance.
Aave is a non-custodial liquidity protocol that allows users to lend and borrow assets on-chain. Aave previously natively integrated several cross-chain bridges for cross-chain governance and used Ethereum as a voting network. This cross-chain architecture not only makes voting very costly for participants, but also results in extremely high development and maintenance costs. As soon as Chainlink CCIP went live, the Aave community voted to integrate CCIP because CCIP has lower gas fees, a very mature infrastructure, can be easily expanded to new networks, and is easy to integrate. Therefore, BGD Labs (Note: a Web3 development program) is integrating Chainlink CCIP into Aave Governance V3 to meet the needs of future cross-chain governance.
“We are very excited to integrate Chainlink CCIP in the next iteration of the Aave protocol to enable secure, reliable, and scalable cross-chain communication. CCIP can be seamlessly integrated into our cross-chain governance mechanism, which will save us a lot of development time and allow us to focus more on the development of core features.” - Ernesto Boado, Co-founder of BGD Labs
With CCIP, Aave can execute governance resolutions across different blockchains to achieve cross-chain interaction for the capital market
CCIP is a blockchain abstraction layer that allows enterprises to connect any public and private chains directly from the back-end system through CCIP and achieve interoperability. Swift has begun exploring CCIP with more than a dozen financial institutions and financial market infrastructure providers to transmit tokens across various public and private chains based on Swift's existing message transmission infrastructure. Institutions participating in the blockchain interoperability cooperation include Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), BNP Paribas, Bank of New York Mellon, Citibank, Clearstream Bank, Euroclear Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) and Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).
A simple diagram of how banks and financial market infrastructures can adopt CCIP through the Swift network to set new standards in cross-chain functionality, security, reliability and user experience
The following are the characteristics of CCIP that are different from other cross-chain solutions:
Simplified Token Transfers
CCIP's Simplified Token Transfers is a plug-and-play solution that includes audited token pool contracts. These contracts are responsible for handling the destruction/minting or locking/unlocking of cross-chain tokens, and token owners have full control over their own token pool contracts. Simplified Token Transfers also sets additional security features (such as cross-chain token quantity limits) and enhances the composability of protocol native tokens, so that ecological partners can easily cross chains through the CCIP interface and develop new features for protocol tokens.
Programmable token transfer
While transferring tokens, other instructions can be added to define the use of tokens in smart contracts on the target chain, such as redemption or staking of tokens once they arrive on the target chain. With programmable functions, the message (i.e. token + data) becomes an atomic cross-chain transaction, and when the instructions are executed on the target chain, it can always be assumed that the token is available.
Active Risk Management (ARM) Network
ARM is an independent network that continuously monitors and verifies the CCIP network. This network is responsible for independently verifying cross-chain processes and identifying errors, thus providing an additional layer of security. The ARM network implements an independent, minimal version of the Chainlink node software in Rust. This improves client diversity and robustness and minimizes external dependencies to avoid supply chain attacks.
CCIP's cross-chain technology stack Cross-chain token limit (Rate Limits)
CCIP can flexibly set an upper limit on the number of cross-chain tokens within a period of time. This parameter can be set individually for a token in a cross-chain channel and coordinated with the token issuer. In addition, the total upper limit of the cross-chain quantity can be set uniformly for all tokens in a cross-chain channel to ensure that attackers cannot reach the individual upper limit of each token at the same time. This function is in the CCIP code base and the code base has been strictly audited. Only CCIP Token Transfer can use this function, and Arbitrary Messaging cannot use it.
 Smart Execution
CCIP uses a gas fee lock payment mechanism, namely Smart Execution, to ensure that cross-chain transactions are not affected by fluctuations in the target chain's gas fee rate. For developers, this means that they only need to pay on the original chain, and CCIP will be responsible for execution on the target chain.
Upgrading with time-lock smart contracts
All major on-chain configuration updates and upgrades of CCIP must go through a timelock smart contract. During this period, proposals can be vetoed by a threshold number of CCIP node operators. In addition, updates and upgrades can be directly approved by a threshold number of node operators, in which case there is no need to go through a timelock contract. Therefore, users and protocols using CCIP can fully study and make judgments before the update takes effect. On-chain updates that are not vetoed within the timelock window can be executed by anyone. The community can run a timelock-worker to handle executable upgrades. This model of on-chain upgrades marks another step towards decentralization and robustness of the Chainlink network.
Payment Mode
As mentioned in our recent blog posts, Chainlink Network Outlook 2023 and Sustainable Oracle Economic Model, we are developing enhanced payment models to establish a monetization model and ensure the long-term sustainability of Chainlink services. One of the main goals is to lower the payment threshold for dApps, enterprises, and end users, and attract more fee income for Chainlink service providers.
Chainlink Network Outlook 2023:
https://blog.chain.link/the-chainlink-network-in-2023/
Sustainable Oracle Economic Model:
https://blog.chain.link/sustainable-oracle-economics/
As CCIP develops into the most secure and easy-to-use cross-chain solution in the industry, fee payment scenarios will appear on all blockchains. Therefore, lowering the payment threshold for users is essential for CCIP to quickly expand to more blockchains. CCIP supports payment with LINK and other tokens. Currently, other tokens include native tokens on the chain and ERC20 wrapped tokens of these tokens. Compared with payment with LINK, the payment rate with other tokens is higher.
We are developing an on-chain automatic exchange system that can automatically exchange other tokens into LINK when paying. Before the exchange system is launched, when users pay with other tokens, the tokens will be withdrawn to their respective maintenance pools and replaced by LINK in the CCIP contract, and the amount of LINK will be calculated based on the exchange rate at the time of payment. Finally, LINK will be used to pay the service provider (i.e. node operator). Once the on-chain automatic exchange system is launched, other token assets stored in the maintenance pool will be exchanged for LINK.
CCIP's message transmission function charges a fixed fee per message, while CCIP's token transmission function charges a percentage of the token value. In addition, CCIP's fees also include gas fees. When paying with other tokens, the fees will be 10% higher than when paying with LINK. Currently, CCIP's fees are in line with industry standards for the cross-chain ecosystem, but the fees may be adjusted in the future.
As Chainlink Staking expands to include more oracle services including CCIP, we plan to distribute a portion of user fees to stakers as a reward for their contribution to Chainlink’s cryptoeconomic security.