{"id":9482,"date":"2026-08-21T22:09:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T19:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/layerzero-has-lost-a-dozen-partnerships-this-year\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T22:09:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T19:09:36","slug":"layerzero-has-lost-a-dozen-partnerships-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/layerzero-has-lost-a-dozen-partnerships-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"LayerZero has lost a dozen partnerships this year"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p>Blockchain interoperability project LayerZero has lost a dozen partners this year as its ZRO token shed a third of its value.<\/p>\n<p>The latest departure, Ethereum node service provider Nethermind, ran one of the verifiers that LayerZero <a href=\"https:\/\/layerzero.network\/blog\/enterprise-dvns\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">advertised<\/a> to enterprise users. It <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Nethermind\/status\/2090106944660943215\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">migrated<\/a> to one of LayerZero\u2019s competitors and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheBlockCo\/status\/2090106848888156274\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">terminated<\/a> its role as verifier on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>It joins a long list.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Kelp DAO <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KelpDAO\/status\/2051755467328913637\">ex<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KelpDAO\/status\/2051755467328913637\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">i<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KelpDAO\/status\/2051755467328913637\">ted<\/a> LayerZero in May after it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblock.co\/news\/ecosystems\/2026-05-05-kelp-dao-ditches-layerzero-chainlink-cross-chain-infrastructure-292-million-exploit-400131\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lost<\/a> $292 million through a bridge that a single LayerZero verifier secured.<\/li>\n<li>Solv Protocol <a href=\"https:\/\/insights.solv.finance\/solv-protocol-migrates-from-layerzero-to-chainlink-ccip\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">deprecated<\/a> its LayerZero bridges two days later, with Re.xyz <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.re.xyz\/chainlink-ccip\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">making<\/a> the same move.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblock.co\/news\/business\/2026-05-14-chainlink-ccip-gains-over-2-5-billion-tvl-from-protocols-migrating-layerzero-kraken-bitcoin-latest-401368\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">week<\/a>, Kraken <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/krakenfx\/status\/2054941472512717301\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shifted<\/a> its kBTC BTC-linked token off LayerZero, while Lombard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lombard.finance\/blog\/lombard-is-exclusively-migrating-to-chainlink-ccip-to-secure-1-b-in-bitcoin-assets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pulled<\/a> over $1 billion of BTC-backed assets one day later.<\/li>\n<li>Virtuals Protocol <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/virtuals-protocol-migrates-700m-virtual-token-from-layerzero-to-chainlink-ccip-to-enable-secure-cross-chain-payments-for-ai-agents-302790918.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">left<\/a> LayerZero in June. Yuzu Money <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/YuzuMoneyX\/status\/2074480433233027222\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">completed<\/a> its exit in early July, and Mantle <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/mantle-migrates-its-super-portal-to-chainlink-ccip-bringing-institutional-grade-security-to-every-cross-chain-transfer-of-the-2-5b-mnt-token-302822040.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">swapped<\/a> out its Super Portal days later.<\/li>\n<li>BitGo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitgo.com\/resources\/blog\/bitgo-selects-chainlink-ccip-for-wbtc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">took<\/a> $7.7 billion of wrapped BTC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/business\/2026\/08\/04\/bitgo-s-wbtc-move-pushes-layerzero-to-chainlink-tally-near-usd15-billion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">out<\/a> of LayerZero\u2019s ecosystem in August.<\/li>\n<li>Huma Finance <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.huma.finance\/huma-finance-selects-chainlink-ccip-to-power-cross-chain-yield\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declined<\/a> to use LayerZero for its product launched earlier this year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Even the Wyoming Stable Token Commission<\/strong>, the lone state government in the pack of LayerZero partners, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/wyoming-stable-token-commission-migrates-to-chainlink-ccip-for-enhanced-operational-security-302854502.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dropped<\/a> its token bridge on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">LayerZero targeted by Lazarus Group<\/h2>\n<p>More than $7 billion in assets had migrated off LayerZero by early July. BitGo\u2019s exit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/business\/2026\/08\/04\/bitgo-s-wbtc-move-pushes-layerzero-to-chainlink-tally-near-usd15-billion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lifted<\/a> the tally toward <strong>$15 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The panic began after LayerZero <a href=\"https:\/\/layerzero.network\/blog\/an-overdue-apology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">admitted<\/a> that hackers at <strong>Lazarus Group<\/strong> poisoned its internal RPCs in April.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe made a mistake by allowing our DVN to act as a 1\/1 DVN for high-value transactions,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<p>Protos <a href=\"https:\/\/protos.com\/defi-sector-in-14b-meltdown-as-290m-rseth-hack-fallout-burns-aave\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">documented<\/a> the immediate fallout from that incident, with Aave pausing ETH-pegged token markets from LayerZero as depositors rushed for the exits.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-protos wp-block-embed-protos\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"YftJqhwUBr\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/protos.com\/layerzero-among-bridges-lazarus-using-to-launder-loot\/\">LayerZero among bridges Lazarus using to launder loot<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><em>Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/protos.com\/aave-tvl-still-down-43-since-kelpdao-hack\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Aave TVL still down 43% since KelpDAO hack<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hard to recover from an 88% drawdown<\/h2>\n<p>LayerZero co-founder and CEO Bryan Pellegrino <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PrimordialAA\/status\/2051781730168905984\">dismissed<\/a> much of the early criticism as untrue.<\/p>\n<p>Another defender <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/rookie_of_Ph\/status\/2090390151125995866\">argued<\/a> that the departures amount to \u201cabout 3% of actual usage in volume and less than 1% of messages.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, LayerZero has been retreating. ZRO, has lost 31% of its value this year, 56% over the past 12 months, and 88% from its December 2024 all-time high.<\/p>\n<p>In July, it <a href=\"https:\/\/layerzero.network\/blog\/support-update-july-24-2026\">announced<\/a> it was \u201cwinding down support for a number of chains with minimal activity across our offchain services and Stargate products.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The same notice <a href=\"https:\/\/layerzero.network\/blog\/support-update-july-24-2026\">told<\/a> Stargate users on those chains, \u201cFailure to act before chain support is fully deprecated will result in losing access to your funds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>LayerZero <a href=\"https:\/\/layerzero.network\/blog\/ongoing-security-updates\">warned<\/a> teams still using v1 libraries would face an August 3 shutoff.<\/p>\n<p><em>Got a tip? Send us an email securely via\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/leaks.protos.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Protos Leaks<\/em><\/a>. For more informed news and investigations, follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/protos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">X<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/protos.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Bluesky<\/em><\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqJAgKIh5DQklTRUFnTWFnd0tDbkJ5YjNSdmN5NWpiMjBvQUFQAQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Google News<\/em><\/a>, or subscribe to our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/protosmedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>YouTube<\/em><\/a>\u00a0channel.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/protos.com\/layerzero-has-lost-a-dozen-partnerships-this-year\/\">LayerZero has lost a dozen partnerships this year<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/protos.com\/\">Protos<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blockchain interoperability project LayerZero has lost a dozen partners this year as its ZRO token shed a third of its value. The latest departure, Ethereum node service provider Nethermind, ran one of the verifiers that LayerZero advertised to enterprise users. It migrated to one of LayerZero\u2019s competitors and terminated its role as verifier on Wednesday. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-invest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}