Virtuals Protocol is migrating from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP as its exclusive cross-chain infrastructure, moving more than $700 million in VIRTUAL through Chainlink’s interoperability protocol as the AI agent platform hardens its security stack.
The move follows a full security review by Virtuals after a LayerZero related exploit hit KelpDAO earlier this year, triggering broader scrutiny of cross-chain infrastructure across DeFi.
Since then, several protocols have moved from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP, including KelpDAO, Solv Protocol, Re, Lombard, Kraken, and Pleasing Market.
Virtuals said Chainlink CCIP will support seamless VIRTUAL transfers across chains as AI agents increasingly transact, earn, coordinate, and move capital across the onchain economy.
The protocol said cross chain rails for agent infrastructure require stronger security standards because 99% reliability is not enough for autonomous systems moving value.
Chainlink CCIP uses a security model that includes independent node operators, built in rate limits, and institutional certifications such as SOC-2 Type-2 and ISO 27001. Virtuals said those features were central to its decision to move away from LayerZero and standardize on Chainlink’s infrastructure.
The migration comes as Virtuals continues building infrastructure for autonomous AI agents, allowing agents to be created, tokenized, co-owned, funded, and monetized across wallets, payments, commerce, and other onchain use cases.
Johann Eid, chief business officer at Chainlink Labs, said Virtuals’ migration reflects an accelerating trend of protocols moving to Chainlink CCIP as the industry standardizes on secure cross-chain infrastructure for DeFi.
Khoon Kheng, COO at Virtuals Protocol, said Chainlink CCIP provides one of the highest levels of cross-chain security and gives agents a reliable framework for cross chain capital movement.
VIRTUAL was down more than 8% over the past 24 hours, extending pressure on the AI agent token even as the protocol moved to strengthen its cross chain infrastructure.