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Chainlinks Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has entered general availability with the aim of fostering more cross-chain connectivity.

The protocol lets developers permissionlessly use CCIP for cross-chain token transfers and arbitrary smart contract messaging across different blockchain networks.

Developers will also be able to send and trigger function calls on smart contracts deployed on other blockchains, making cross-chain smart contracts more interoperable.

CCIPs mainnet general availability will enable a faster and easier implementation for developers, bolstering cross-chain connectivity, according to Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink.

In an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Nazarov wrote:

Cross-chain bridges help users facilitate transactions between different blockchain networks. They represent some of the most significant points of vulnerability in crypto.

Chainlink is among the largest firms working on cross-chain interoperability, which is among the most pressing shortcomings of the industry since individual blockchain networks have no means to communicate with each other without interoperability solutions.

At the beginning of April, Chainlink launched Transporter, a cross-chain messaging app for bridging tokens, aiming to foster more secure cross-chain crypto transfers with a beginner-friendly app interface.

Chainlinks Transporter is underpinned by CCIP, which is the only cross-chain protocol that achieves level-5 security, according to a Chainlink spokesperson.

CCIP is available on nine blockchains, including Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Kroma, Optimism, Polygon and WEMIX, with plans to integrate more networks.

CCIP aims to help financial institutions unlock the $500 trillion opportunity in tokenized assets, by offering better liquidity access for cross-chain assets, a Chainlink spokesperson told Cointelegraph:

Related: Money-hungry VCs are bad for token launches in the long term Analyst

Due to their technical complexity, cross-chain bridges represent some of the biggest points of vulnerability in todays crypto protocols.

Since 2016, over $5.85 billion worth of cryptocurrency has been stolen from decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Cross-chain bridges account for over 48%, or $2.83 billion, of the total value lost to exploits, according to DefiLlama data.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has criticized cross-chain infrastructure in the past. In a Reddit post from January 2022, Buterin shared his concerns about how 51% attacks on cross-chain bridges will become more prevalent in the future:

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Chainlink debuts new protocol aimed at boosting cross-chain interoperability - Cointelegraph