Chainlink Launches Cross-Chain Bridging App ‘Transporter’

Chainlink is entering the competitive cross-chain bridging sector with the launch of its Transporter bridge.

On April 11, Chainlink announced the launch of Transporter, a decentralized application for bridging tokens and messages across multiple networks built on top of Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP).

Transporter allows users to transfer assets across Ethereum, Layer 2 networks Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, the Polygon PoS sidechain, and Layer 1 networks Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Wemix.

“Transporter makes it easier to utilize the security benefits of Chainlink CCIP for the transfer of large token value and critical messages across chains,” said Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink. “Having a secure way to move both value and data across chains is something the blockchain industry has needed for years and I’m excited that Transporter is making that more accessible.”

Transporter marks Chainlink’s entrance into the heavily populated cross-chain interoperability space. With the DeFi sector proliferating across multiple networks and Ethereum’s Layer 2 sector rapidly expanding, popular bridges stand to earn sizable fees in exchange for facilitating cross-chain asset flows.

However, bridges have also historically proved to comprise a honeypot attracting the efforts of hackers, with four cross-chain protocols ranking among the five largest DeFi exploits on record with combined losses of roughly $2.15 billion, according to Rekt.

Chainlink said Transport boasts a “defense-in-depth security model” underscored by its time-tested infrastructure, in addition to “24/7 global support.”

The application was developed by Chainlink Labs in partnership with the Chainlink Foundation. Chainlink said that the venture capital firms Fourth Revolution Capital and Moonrock Capital are among a cohort of early Transporter users.

Transporter does not impose extra charges on top of the regular CCIP fees, which cover gas costs and fees for CCIP service providers.

CCIP adoption spikes

The launch of Transporter expands access to Chainlink’s CCIP, with CCIP’s permissioned “early access” mainnet launch taking place in July 2023.

The protocol is already enjoying widespread adoption among mainstream financial institutions and enterprises exploring blockchain, with CCIP playing a part in blockchain pilot programs carried out by Swift, Vodafone, and Australia and New Zealand Bank. CCIP is also enjoying significant web3-native adoption, with Metis and Polygon recently announcing initiatives leveraging the protocol.

According to Dune Analytics, CCIP has garnered $582,228 worth of fees since launch, 53% of which was generated since the start of March — suggesting the protocol was on track to earn $2.67 million in annual revenue prior to Transporter’s deployment. The number of cross-chain transfer requests received by CCIp has already tripled to 150,000 since March 16.

However, CCIP’s growing adoption is not translating into gains for holders of Chainlink’s LINK token, with the price of LINK sliding 16% in the past 30 days, according to CoinGecko.