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.