Chainlink, the leading network of decentralized oracles in the market, will shut down this Sunday, May 17, 2026, following a week of strong institutional expansion with the merger of Kraken, Fidelity International, and DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation), the leading post-trading infrastructure of the US stock market.
This announcement strengthens the use of the company’s technology in interoperability between networks, tokenized funds, and collateral management.
On May 14th, American exchange Kraken announced that it would be migrating. Cross-network infrastructure for kBTC, tokenized Bitcoin, for Chainlink CCIP. With this change, we no longer use LayerZero as the interop provider for wrapped assets.
kBTC allows you to use BTC in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and networks that specialize in smart contracts. Chainlink CCIP (Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol) A system developed to connect different networks and enable secure asset transfer Messages between digital ecosystems.
Kraken justified this decision by pointing out that Chainlink offers “enterprise-grade infrastructure” with strict security and risk management requirements. Highlighted elements include ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2 certification, an architecture described as “secure by default,” 16 independent nodes, and native transfer limits.
This change comes amid increased attention to network-to-network infrastructure security. As reported by CriptoNoticias, the exploit suffered by Kelp DAO in April was related to a configuration vulnerability related to LayerZero. In this attack, the attackers leaked more than 116,000 rsETH, resulting in losses of nearly $292 million.
In any case, moving to Chainlink does not completely eliminate structural risks. Although CCIP incorporates additional verification and risk management mechanisms, Kraken will continue to rely on a single provider for interoperability of tokenized assetswhich maintains the possibility of a single point of failure.
Another related integration occurred on May 15, 2026, when Tempo adopted Chainlink CCIP to bring cbBTC to its network. Tempo is a payment-focused layer 1 network developed by Stripe and Paradigm. Meanwhile, cbBTC is a tokenized Bitcoin (BTC) from the Coinbase exchange with over $5 billion in circulation.
With this integration, BTC now available on Tempo for the first time through cbBTC. According to reports, CCIP acts as an interoperability bridge between networks; Institutions and users use their assets for DeFi applications, payments, loans, guarantees, trading, and performance strategies.
This expansion also extended to Fidelity International. On May 13, 2026, the manager launched Fidelity USD Digital Liquidity Fund (FILQ), the first native tokenized fund developed on Ethereum with Chainlink infrastructure and the Sygnum tokenization platform.
In its products, Chainlink provides net asset value data known as NAV. NAV is an important metric for investment funds because it reflects the value of the underlying assets. Unlike traditional funds, where NAV is typically calculated outside business hours, this model allows this information to be published within the digital ecosystem in a more transparent and accessible manner.
A day earlier, on May 12, DTCC integrated Chainlink technology into the Colternal AppChain digital platform. Post-trade infrastructure plays a central role in U.S. financial markets as it participates in post-trade processes such as clearing, settlement, and custody of securities.
Chainlink integration modernizes collateral mobility and Manage collateral, prices, valuations, and asset movements in near real-time.
The Collarate AppChain platform is expected to be operational during the fourth quarter of 2026. According to DTCC: This effort is designed to improve capital efficiency and reduce operational limitations inherent in systems that do not operate continuously.
Chainlink’s expansion among corporate players and financial companies raises expectations for its native token, LINK. As reported by CriptoNoticias, financial analyst Ted Stamas believes LINK has the potential to outperform the S&P 500 over the next four years.
Despite these announcements, the price of the token is showing a different movement. The asset has fallen from $10.49 to $9.79 over the past seven days, representing a drop of nearly 6.7%.
This contrast shows that the institutional introduction of infrastructure does not necessarily lead to immediate price increases. Still, these consolidations strengthen trends. Chainlink is expanding its role beyond oracles. We are growing our presence as an infrastructure provider for tokenization, interoperability and financial data within digital and institutional markets.
(Tag translation) Altcoin
