Wyoming's Chainlink Switch Could Pull Other States in, McCormick Says

Wyoming's decision to use Chainlink for its state-issued stablecoin could lead other US states to consider Chainlink's technology for similar projects, according to Andrew McCormick, head of institutional and market development at Chainlink Labs.

The Wyoming Stable Token Commission said on 18 Aug that it had stopped using LayerZero to move its Frontier Stable Token (FRNT) between blockchains and switched to Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). The commission said the move followed a "thorough review." The switch appears to be the first publicly disclosed case of a US government entity replacing blockchain infrastructure on security grounds.

Chainlink is a decentralized oracle provider that helps blockchains connect to external data and other networks. As of 18 Aug, it has $34.6bn in total value secured (TVS) across protocols, according to DefiLlama. Aave V3 made up the largest share, at $14.4bn.

$15bn on the move

The switch adds Wyoming to a migration wave that has moved roughly $15bn in assets from LayerZero to Chainlink's CCIP in recent months, based on publicly announced moves by Kelp, Solv Protocol, Re, Kraken, Lombard, Mantle and BitGo – with BitGo's $7.7bn wrapped bitcoin migration alone accounting for roughly half of the total. McCormick said more Chainlink announcements are close.

McCormick told Sandmark at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium, an invitation-only event hosted by SALT and Kraken in Jackson Hole, that officials in other states could watch Wyoming's move as they consider their own projects.

"What Wyoming is building is really cool, really impactful," McCormick said. "If I have a similar role in Missouri, Florida, Washington State, I'm going to be thinking of the same thing, following the news."

When asked whether Wyoming could lead to Chainlink being used by other states, McCormick said: "That's the hope."

Wyoming moves to Chainlink

Wyoming introduced FRNT in 2025 as the first fully reserved, fiat-backed stablecoin issued by a US public entity. As of 18 Aug, there were 968,052 FRNT in circulation, backed by $968,052 in reserves, according to the Wyoming Stable Token Commission.

FRNT can be issued and redeemed for $1 and is backed by cash, US Treasury bills and repurchase agreements. It is available on several blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Base and Avalanche.

McCormick said Wyoming’s deployment of FRNT stands out because of how quickly the state has embraced blockchain technology.

"Typically, when you think of state government, you don't think of innovative, hungry, pushing the boundaries of what we can do," he said. "That's what Wyoming is doing."

Wyoming has been one of the most crypto-friendly states in the US, passing several laws to support digital assets and becoming the first state to issue its own stablecoin.

Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of Congress's biggest crypto supporters, has also helped put Wyoming at the center of the industry. Lummis, who is retiring at the end of her term in January 2027, spoke at the symposium on 18 Aug for the last time as a sitting senator.

After the Kelp exploit

The migrations come after an April exploit of the LayerZero bridge used by Kelp DAO, which resulted in $291mn in losses, according to CertiK's Hack3D: H1 2026 Report. The same report found that more than $1.31bn was lost across 344 security incidents in the first half of 2026, with wallet compromises accounting for more than $444mn across 33 incidents.

McCormick said security is becoming increasingly important as more money moves between blockchains. "I hate to see it," he said of crypto hacks. "It's people who work hard for their money, and I hate to see people lose their money."

He said the risks go beyond individual investors, pointing to crypto attacks linked to foreign groups and nation states.

McCormick also said more Chainlink developments are close to being announced, although he declined to give details. "There's a few cool things that are so, so close," he said.