Chainlink Unveils Custom Verifier Option in Cross-Chain Plumbing Upgrade
Chainlink has launched CCIP 2.0, its latest version of cross-chain plumbing that allows institutions to operate their own custom verifiers instead of relying solely on Chainlink's default network.
This upgrade comes five months after the $292 million Kelp hack, which was linked to North Korea and pushed Kraken and Lombard to use Chainlink. The hack highlighted the risk of a single point of failure in bridge verification, where a hacker can trick one verifier into approving a malicious transfer.
Chainlink's CCIP 2.0 introduces the Cross-Chain Verifier (CCV) feature, which allows institutions to run their own verifiers or hire one from a firm like Infosys or Nethermind. The default check by Chainlink's committee of 16 independent node operators remains in place.
The Risk Management Network, a separate set of nodes that double-checked the main committee's work, is now less relevant and will be offered as an optional validation layer in future releases.