Kraken shifts kBTC to Chainlink CCIP after $292M Kelp hack
Kraken will move kBTC from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP following the $292 million Kelp DAO exploit. kBTC holders do not need to take action.
Kraken announced on May 14, 2026 that it will migrate its wrapped Bitcoin product, kBTC, from LayerZero to Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). The exchange said it will use Chainlink CCIP as the exclusive cross-chain infrastructure for kBTC and for future Kraken wrapped assets.
Kraken described kBTC as backed 1:1 by Bitcoin held in Kraken custody. The token carried a market capitalization of about $266 million at the time of the announcement. Kraken advised current kBTC holders that no action is needed and that the firm will manage the migration process.
The decision follows an April 18 exploit of Kelp DAO that resulted in $292 million in losses. LayerZero acknowledged it “made a mistake” in the configuration used by Kelp DAO. A LayerZero postmortem said attackers were able to poison internal RPCs used by its system and withdrew 116,500 rsETH liquid staking tokens. The attack was later attributed to the Lazarus Group, a North Korean state-sponsored hacking organization. LayerZero reported that no other applications were affected and that funds outside the compromised setup were not at risk.
Several projects have announced plans to move off LayerZero after the breach. Kelp DAO said it will migrate to Chainlink. Solv Protocol plans to shift the infrastructure supporting more than $700 million in tokenized Bitcoin to Chainlink CCIP. On-chain reinsurance protocol Re also announced a provider change. These projects described security reviews of their cross-chain systems before selecting new interoperability providers.
Technically, Kraken’s change replaces LayerZero’s cross-chain messaging and verification mechanisms with Chainlink’s CCIP for future cross-chain transfers and wrapped-asset issuance tied to Kraken custody. Kraken posted on its social channel: “Kraken chose Chainlink CCIP because it offers enterprise-grade infrastructure with strict security & risk management requirements.”
The announcements add to a series of provider changes by firms that use cross-chain interoperability protocols for wrapped assets and token transfers. Kraken’s post was published on X and the migration details align with recent technical reviews and provider updates across affected projects.
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