Lido’s Network Expansion Committee chose Chainlink CCIP to bridge its staking token across chains, citing security lessons from $3 billion in cross-chain bridge exploits.
Lido contributors have published security principles explaining why the protocol’s Network Expansion Committee selected Chainlink CCIP for cross-chain deployment of its liquid staking token. The decision reflects heightened scrutiny of bridge infrastructure following major cross-chain exploits that have resulted in nearly $3 billion in stolen funds, including the recent Kelp / LayerZero vulnerability.
Cross-chain bridges have become a critical security frontier for DeFi protocols expanding beyond their origin chains. The choice of bridge infrastructure directly impacts token security, operational safeguards, and issuer controls. Lido’s published framework outlines the evaluation criteria used to assess candidate solutions, with emphasis on mitigating risks demonstrated by past exploits.
Chainlink CCIP (Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol) provides cross-chain token transfer functionality and has been integrated into Lido’s multichain strategy. The protocol’s wrapped stETH (wstETH) is now supported via Chainlink’s CCIP infrastructure.
Historical data on cross-chain bridge hacks underscores the scale of security risks. Lido’s Network Expansion Committee established formal governance processes to evaluate protocol expansions, as documented in community governance discussions.
Sources: Lido Blog | Lido Multichain | Chainlink CCIP Documentation | DefiLlama Hacks Database | Lido Research Forum
This article was produced with the help of AI flows.