Chainlink Network Activity Surges Amid DeFi Migration

Chainlink (LINK) network activity has surged to levels not seen in eight months, driven by the migration of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols from LayerZero to Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), according to BeInCrypto. On-chain analytics firm Santiment reported 282,170 active addresses on May 9, followed by 264,090 the next day, marking the strongest sustained activity since September 2025. This increase follows a $292 million exploit on April 18, 2026, involving Kelp DAO's LayerZero-powered bridge, prompting a shift to Chainlink CCIP. Additionally, Solv Protocol plans to migrate over $700 million in tokenized Bitcoin to CCIP, further boosting network activity. The surge is attributed to genuine protocol usage rather than speculative trading, with significant whale accumulation and reduced sell-side pressure noted.