Chainlink has made a significant move into the competitive cross-chain bridging sector by launching its Transporter bridge. This new decentralized application, built on Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), enables the transfer of tokens and messages across multiple networks.
We are excited to introduce @transporter_io, the next evolution in cross-chain bridging, powered by #Chainlink CCIP.
Transporter is your gateway to the multi-chain universe.
Cross chains with confidence: https://t.co/OJ9XWcAy4F pic.twitter.com/ANNWiFfXdC
— Chainlink (@chainlink) April 11, 2024
Transporter supports various networks, including Ethereum, Layer 2 networks like Arbitrum and Optimism, Polygon PoS sidechain, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Wemix. Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink, emphasized the importance of having a secure method for transferring both value and data across chains.
This launch marks Chainlink’s entry into a crowded space, with DeFi expanding across different networks and Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem growing rapidly. While bridges offer lucrative fee opportunities, they have also been targeted by hackers in the past, resulting in substantial losses.
Chainlink aims to address these concerns with Transporter’s “defense-in-depth security model” and round-the-clock global support. Developed by Chainlink Labs in collaboration with the Chainlink Foundation, Transporter has already attracted early users, including venture capital firms Fourth Revolution Capital and Moonrock Capital.
Importantly, Transporter does not add extra charges on top of regular CCIP fees, covering gas costs and fees for CCIP service providers.
“Transporter doesn’t charge additional fees, only the regular fees for using CCIP, which cover the gas costs of completing transactions on the destination chain and the fees paid to CCIP service providers. Additionally, users have flexibility in their choice of fee payment, supporting the ability to pay in LINK or in blockchain native gas tokens.”
The launch expands access to Chainlink’s CCIP, which has seen growing adoption among mainstream financial institutions and enterprises, as well as web3-native projects.
According to data from Dune, CCIP has collected $582,228 worth of fees since its launch. Notably, 53% of these fees were generated since the beginning of March. This surge in fees indicates that the protocol was poised to generate approximately $2.67 million in annual revenue prior to the introduction of Transporter.
Additionally, the number of cross-chain transfer requests received by CCIP has experienced a significant uptick, reaching 150,000 since March 16. This surge in transfer requests underscores the growing demand for cross-chain interoperability solutions and highlights the increasing adoption of CCIP within the blockchain ecosystem.
Despite CCIP’s increasing usage, the price of Chainlink’s LINK token has declined in the past month, according to CoinGecko.
