In Brief:
- ApeChain is migrating from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP, which will be its canonical cross-chain stack across the Yuga Labs ecosystem, including Bored Ape Yacht Club.
- APE, USDC and other key assets on ApeChain are being upgraded to Chainlink Cross-Chain Tokens (CCT).
- No deprecation deadline for the LayerZero setup and no instructions for token holders have been published.
ApeChain is replacing LayerZero with Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol as its canonical bridge. The change covers the whole Yuga Labs ecosystem, Bored Ape Yacht Club included.
Chainlink and ApeChain announced the switch on Nov. 4 in separate posts on X.
NEW: ApeChain is deprecating its legacy cross-chain solution & migrating to Chainlink CCIP.
CCIP is now becoming the canonical cross-chain infra across the entire Yuga Labs ecosystem, starting with its flagship
@BoredApeYC
use cases, ApeChain, & the APE token.
Two…
“NEW: ApeChain is deprecating its legacy cross-chain solution & migrating to Chainlink CCIP,” Chainlink said.
APE and USDC become CCTs
APE, USDC and other key assets on ApeChain are being reissued in Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Token format. Until now, ApeChain assets moved between chains through LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token standard.
“With CCIP as our canonical bridge, APE, USDC, and other key assets on ApeChain are being upgraded to a Chainlink Cross-Chain Token (CCT),” ApeChain said. “This upgrade will make it easier for dApps, communities, and their assets to connect.”
APE was quoted at $0.116 in ApeChain’s post. USDC was at $1.00.
Chainlink’s CCIP documentation says bridge aggregators and outside dApps can connect to the CCIP router without deploying custom contracts for each token.
Ecosystem-wide scope
Chainlink framed the move as a standard for everything Yuga Labs runs on chain.
“CCIP is now becoming the canonical cross-chain infra across the entire Yuga Labs ecosystem, starting with its flagship @BoredApeYC use cases, ApeChain, & the APE token,” Chainlink said.
ApeChain’s own post put it this way: “ApeChain is working with @chainlink to strengthen our infrastructure for the future.”
“We will be migrating from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP as our canonical cross-chain stack across the @yugalabs ecosystem, including @BoredApeYC,” ApeChain said.
What hasn’t been disclosed
Neither team has given a timeline. No deadline for retiring the LayerZero bridge has been published. Holders also don’t know yet whether existing tokens will convert automatically or need a manual swap.
Fees for CCIP transfers haven’t been disclosed either.
And the announcements gave no specific reason for leaving LayerZero. Neither ApeChain nor Chainlink tied the move to a security incident or to a vulnerability in ApeChain’s contracts.
Background
ApeChain is a layer-3 network built on Arbitrum Orbit for the ApeCoin ecosystem. LayerZero has handled its messaging and bridging since launch.
Ronin made a similar move in April 2025, when it finished migrating about $450 million in assets to CCIP.
Chainlink closed its announcement with a line about the two NFT and token communities under Yuga: “Two communities. One ecosystem. One secure cross-chain standard.”
