Hi all, Michael from Chainlink Labs here.
We’re happy to see such thoughtful discussion in the Lido community on how the protocol can expand cross-chain and broaden access to wstETH to new chain environments. Given that cross-chain interoperability is an extremely security-sensitive dynamic (with billions lost over the past few years due to hacks/exploits), and the fact that Lido’s Liquid Staked Ether secures an immense amount of value ($15B+), the selection of any cross-chain infrastructure should not be done hastily without considering the options available.
We’re fully aligned with @Hasu’s comment regarding having formal objective evaluation criteria and process for selecting the cross-chain infrastructure solution for Lido, and we’re glad to see that the Network Expansion Workgroup (NEW) has provided initial guidelines to initiate this process.
We believe that Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) offers a robust standard for such evaluation. It utilizes the same battle-tested Decentralized Oracle Network (DON) infrastructure that have been the backbone of DeFi for years, with multiple DONs used to secure cross-chain interactions, a unique independent Risk Management Network for secondary validation and anomaly detection, and additional security features like per-token and aggregate rate limiting on cross-chain token transfers. CCIP operates at the highest level of cross-chain security, providing a defense-in-depth solution resolving many of the security issues seen with other cross-chain protocols historically.
Many node operators securing Chainlink CCIP already run Lido validators, minimizing additional trust assumptions. CCIP also provides protocols, such as Lido, full ownership and control over their token contracts on the destination chains and does not impose vendor lock-ins via the implementation structures.
CCIP has been built not only to create an interoperable public blockchain ecosystem, but also to connect private bank blockchains to any other public or blockchain network, creating a global internet of contracts that can bridge the crypto world and DeFi leaders like Lido to the rising wave of institutions adopting blockchains. We have worked with some of the largest financial institutions and market infrastructures in the world, including Swift (interbank messaging standard for 11,000+ global banks), DTCC (settles $2+ quadrillion in securities volume annually), and ANZ ($1T+ assets under management), on how CCIP can securely facilitate the cross-chain settlement of tokenized assets across public/private chains.
We’ll share more specifics for the current review process outlined by the NEW, where we will post our full proposals for Avalanche and BNB Chain based on the community’s desired timelines, deliverables, and other requirements to meet the needs for cross-chain wstETH, which will also inform future CCIP proposals to other blockchain ecosystems.
We’re excited to collaborate with the Lido community, including the recently formed Network Expansion Workgroup, to help Lido achieve its cross-chain goals.