We’re excited to announce that the CCIP v1.6 upgrade is officially live on mainnet. Notably, this release introduces support for non-EVM blockchains, starting with Solana mainnet. This upgrade also features architectural upgrades that lower execution costs for users and enhance the speed at which new EVM and non-EVM chains can be integrated with CCIP, resulting in secure, cost-efficient scaling to hundreds more blockchains. 

CCIP v1.6 enables token developers, including Solv, Backed Finance, Shiba Inu, and others, to expand their existing CCIP-powered tokens into the Solana ecosystem, leveraging the Cross-Chain Token (CCT) standard. Joining them on Solana are new teams adopting the CCT standard for the first time, including ElizaOS, The Graph, Maple Finance, Pepe, Zeus Network, and more. Together, these CCTs coming to Solana via CCIP represent a collective market cap of over $19 billion. With CCIP v1.6, Solana is now connected to Arbitrum, Base, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Optimism, and Sonic, with many more chains to come. Additional chains will be upgraded to v1.6 over time.

CCIP-enabled bridging apps Interport and XSwap have already integrated support for Solana, with OpenOcean and Transporter to follow.

In addition to adding support for Solana, the v1.6 upgrade enables CCIP to rapidly expand its chain coverage to meet growing demand for secure cross-chain interoperability. CCIP already supports 57+ blockchains on mainnet and has integrated 26 networks this year—including Berachain, Monad, and Soneium. Fifteen of these chains—such as Bitlayer, BoB, and Ronin, Soneium—have already adopted CCIP as their canonical cross-chain infrastructure. 

The v1.6 upgrade enables CCIP to scale integrations to support hundreds of additional blockchains across different Virtual Machine (VM) designs through a series of architectural improvements that reduce complexity for node operators and decrease network operating costs. This expansion ensures developers, tokenized assets, and institutions can access a unified interoperability layer across both EVM and non-EVM networks.

 Importantly, these improvements were introduced with the CCIP v1.6 upgrade without disrupting existing integrations or requiring any network downtime. Applications and tokens that use CCIP today continue to operate without modification, but now benefit from reduced execution fees, faster transaction processing, and seamless connectivity to non-EVM and newly added chains.

CCIP v1.6 marks an important step forward in the network’s evolution, establishing a more scalable and sustainable foundation for cross-chain applications. 

What’s New With CCIP v1.6: More Chains, Lower Cost

The v1.6 upgrade introduces a series of architectural improvements focused on expanding the protocol’s accessibility. This includes bringing CCIP to more chains faster, while also reducing the network operating costs and end-user transaction costs. Here’s what that means for developers and users: 

• Access to non-EVM chains, starting with Solana: CCIP v1.6 introduces support for non-EVM chains (e.g., SVM, Move), beginning with Solana, which can be immediately adopted by new and existing CCT developers. v1.6 makes CCIP VM-agnostic, unlocking support for future non-EVM chains, including existing and yet-to-be-invented VM designs. Expanding CCIP’s support for the non-EVM ecosystem brings developers access to chain ecosystems consisting of millions of users, tens of billions in TVL, and thousands of apps. As a result, developers using CCIP are not locked into using any one type of chain VM.
• Faster chain expansion: The leaner onchain footprint introduced with CCIP v1.6 means new EVM and non-EVM chains can be integrated with CCIP on an accelerated basis, expanding the scope of interoperable blockchains that token developers can support with their CCTs and cross-chain apps. This includes support for both public, private, and hybrid-design blockchains.
• Lower transaction costs: In CCIP v1.6, messages from multiple source chains can be batch-executed together on destination chains, making cross-chain transfers more cost-effective for users. As cross-chain volume increases from individual DeFi enthusiasts to large institutions, the gas savings for users compound. 

In addition to the above, v1.6 also introduces an architectural upgrade from lane-based to chain-based deployments. This means that chains on CCIP v1.6 become interoperable with all other v1.6 chains by default, enabling faster deployments across all chains.

Unlocking the Next Phase of Growth 

CCIP v1.6 represents a major step forward in delivering the scalability and efficiency required to support hundreds of blockchains across diverse environments. In addition to the day-to-day improvements users can experience, v1.6 introduces architectural optimizations that lower operational costs and improve performance across the board. These enhancements lay the foundation for sustainable, secure interoperability as adoption of tokenized assets and cross-chain applications accelerates—positioning CCIP to meet the evolving needs of both DeFi and traditional finance.

Check out the CCIP developer documentation, including the latest v1.6 Solana integration tutorials, to learn more about this upgrade and its new capabilities. To learn more about Chainlink, visit chain.link, subscribe to the Chainlink newsletter, and follow Chainlink on Twitter and YouTube.

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Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and contains statements about the future, including anticipated product features, development, and timelines for the rollout of these features. These statements are only predictions and reflect current beliefs and expectations with respect to future events; they are based on assumptions and are subject to risk, uncertainties, and changes at any time. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed in these statements, although we believe them to be based on reasonable assumptions. All statements are valid only as of the date first posted. These statements may not reflect future developments due to user feedback or later events and we may not update this post in response. Chainlink CCIP is a messaging protocol which does not hold or transfer any assets. Please review the Chainlink Terms of Service, which provides important information and disclosures.