The Chainlink Labs team announced the launch of a protocol that will enable the direct exchange of information between different types of blockchain networks and traditional financial systems.
The Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) will become available on July 20 on the test networks of several major blockchain projects, including Arbitrum (Goerli), Avalanche (Fuji), Ethereum (Sepolia), Optimism (Goerli), and Polygon (Mumbai). The announcement was made by Kemal El Moujahid, Chief Product Officer at Chainlink Labs.
The new technology will enable the direct exchange of information between the servers of companies in the TradFi sector and different blockchain networks. The protocol uses the SWIFT data exchange infrastructure, whose network includes more than 11,000 financial organizations around the world. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, SWIFT processed transactions worth about $1,8 trillion in 2021.
Moreover, CCIP is positioned as an interoperability standard for isolated blockchain networks across the entire Web3 ecosystem. The protocol utilizes verified token pools and smart contract-based mechanisms to interoperate at the asset exchange level, enabling direct interoperability between different blockchain networks.
An additional security level of CCIP is provided by the Active Risk Management (ARM) network, whose algorithms constantly monitor the state of the protocol and check cross-chain operations for possible bugs and vulnerabilities.
CCIP will provide the ability to implement cross-chain dApps. As an example of such an application, the presentation describes a cross-network lending protocol that allows collateral to be deposited on one blockchain network and borrowed assets to be received on another. Data storage protocols, GameFi projects, liquid staking services, and other types of applications can also be realized in the form of cross-chain dApps.
The cooperation between Chainlink and SWIFT and work on the cross-chain protocol became known at the end of September 2022. And just over a month ago, representatives of SWIFT announced the beginning of a global study of the interoperability of various blockchain networks based on the existing data exchange infrastructure.
Photo by Brett Pruitt & East Market Studios
