The exchange will shift kBTC, its Bitcoin backed wrapped asset, to Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol, or CCIP. Kraken said the same infrastructure will also be used for future Kraken Wrapped Assets, making Chainlink the exclusive cross-chain provider for that part of its product stack.

kBTC is backed 1:1 by Bitcoin held in Kraken custody and has a market capitalization of roughly $266 million. Holders do not need to take any action during the migration, according to the exchange’s update.

Kraken said it chose Chainlink CCIP because it offers “enterprise-grade infrastructure” with security and risk-management requirements suited for wrapped assets. The language matters in a market where cross-chain design has become less of a technical footnote and more of a direct trust issue for issuers, custodians and DeFi users.

LayerZero has been under closer scrutiny since the April 18 Kelp DAO exploit, which drained 116,500 rsETH liquid staking tokens and was later attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. LayerZero said internal RPCs used by its team had been poisoned, while later saying no other applications were affected and funds were not at risk.

Kraken is not moving alone. Kelp DAO, Solv Protocol and onchain reinsurance protocol Re have also announced shifts toward Chainlink’s technology, with Solv saying it would migrate infrastructure backing about $700 million of Bitcoin-related assets.

For Chainlink, the Kraken decision adds another proof point around CCIP’s position in the infrastructure layer for wrapped assets, tokenized products and multi-chain liquidity. For Kraken, it keeps kBTC tied to a clearer security narrative as the exchange tries to expand Bitcoin’s use across DeFi without asking users to rely only on the Bitcoin network itself.

Chainlink is currently trading at $10.60 U.S. per digital token.
source: https://www.tradingview.com/news/cryptoprowl:15909d79e094b:0-kraken-moves-kbtc-to-chainlink-as-layerzero-fallout-spreads/