LayerZero is withdrawing off-chain support for 14 low-activity blockchain networks, including Arbitrum Nova, Cronos zkEVM, Degen, Skale Europa, Superposition, and Shrapnel, with the shutdown scheduled for September. The cross-chain interoperability provider will deprecate its DVN and Executors for these chains, potentially stranding assets such as USDT and USDC if users fail to move them in time. The move follows the KelpDAO $292 million exploit, which originated from LayerZero’s recommended “1-of-1” DVN setup and triggered significant fallout. Since the hack, over $15 billion in assets has migrated to competing protocol Chainlink CCIP, while LayerZero’s bridged volume dropped fourfold from nearly 400,000 ETH to approximately 100,000 ETH.
LayerZero will withdraw off-chain support for 14 low-activity chains, including Arbitrum Nova. The firm’s DVN and Executors, responsible for off-chain communication between different chains, will be deprecated for these networks.
The affected networks include Cronos zkEVM, Degen, Skale Europa, Superposition, and Shrapnel. Assets such as USDT and USDC on these chains could become stranded if not moved before the full shutdown.
Off-chain support will end in 30 days, by September. Since July, LayerZero has flagged over 30 chains with low activity, including the recently shut BounceBit.
The move is positioned as operational efficiency, but security risk and competition appear to be key reasons. The KelpDAO $292 million hack, one of the largest DeFi exploits in 2026, triggered a massive fallout.
The exploit stemmed from LayerZero’s recommended “1-of-1” DVN setup, which does not provide sufficient verification for large transfers. Aave subsequently stopped supporting most low-adopted reserve assets, including ghost chains.
Several projects have migrated from LayerZero to rival Chainlink CCIP, including the Wyoming state government, BitGo (WBTC), and Nethermind. Chainlink’s Zach Rynes estimated that $15 billion has been migrated from LayerZero, underscoring the cost of the KelpDAO fallout.
After the exploit, LayerZero bridged volume dropped fourfold from nearly 400,000 ETH to about 100,000 ETH. The aggressive wind-down of support for over 30 chains may be a strategic play to reduce security risk exposure and counter Chainlink CCIP’s growing competition.
Whether that will be enough to stop further project migrations remains to be seen.
