Ronin bridge migrates to Ethereum

Ronin Network has finished the technical move it had been signaling for months: the gaming-focused chain is now operating as an Ethereum layer 2 rather than as an independent Ethereum sidechain. The key onchain event was a hard fork at block 55,577,490 on May 12 at 15:16:30 GMT, according to Ronin’s block explorer. (app.roninchain.com) Ronin had said in an August 2025 engineering post that the chain would “come home” to Ethereum, with final validator review and a hard fork targeted for the first half of 2026. The bridge interface now presents Chainlink CCIP as the active route for moving supported assets between Ethereum and Ronin. (app.roninchain.com) ### So what actually changed on Ronin this week? May 12 was the cutover date when Ronin’s independent chain architecture gave way to an Ethereum-settling layer-2 design. Ronin’s August 2025 post described the plan as an evolution from a “gaming-centric, Ethereum sidechain” to a “full-fledged L2,” with the final hard fork set for Q1-Q2 2026. Block 55,577,490 is the clearest public marker that the migration happened. Ronin’s explorer lists that block as finalized on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 15:16:30 GMT. (app.roninchain.com) ### Why does the bridge matter more than the branding? Chainlink CCIP is now the operational bridge rail shown in Ronin’s app for cross-chain transfers. The live interface labels CCIP as the cross-chain bridge and still shows a separate “Ronin bridge (legacy)” tab, indicating the new route is active while older bridge functions are being phased out. (roninchain.com) Ronin said in an earlier bridge migration post that CCIP had become the network’s canonical cross-chain infrastructure after validators voted for it. In a later update, Ronin said all tokens previously held on the deprecated Ronin Bridge had been moved onto CCIP, calling that the final step in the deprecated bridge’s migration. (app.roninchain.com) ### What does this mean for Axie Infinity and other Ronin games? Axie Infinity remains the best-known application tied to Ronin’s history. Ronin’s own background post said the chain was originally built because Axie Infinity needed a faster and cheaper environment than Ethereum offered at the time. (app.roninchain.com) Ronin’s developer and ecosystem materials show the network has since broadened beyond Axie. The docs position Ronin as a chain for games, NFTs, wallet integrations, gas sponsorship and developer tooling, while blog posts cite projects including Cambria, Pixels-related assets and other game studios building or migrating to the network. (roninchain.com) ### Was this only a bridge upgrade, or a full chain migration? August 2025 is when Ronin framed the move as a chain-level migration, not just a bridge refresh. The company wrote then that Ronin was “evolving” into an Ethereum-aligned L2 and tied that shift to broader changes in how the network would secure itself and support builders. (roninchain.com) January 2025 and April 2025 were earlier bridge milestones. Ronin’s bridge posts show a separate, earlier migration from the legacy Ronin Bridge onto Chainlink CCIP, including a deprecation schedule and later confirmation that the deprecated bridge’s assets had been fully moved. (docs.roninchain.com) Taken together, the public record shows two related tracks: a bridge-infrastructure migration and a later chain-architecture migration to Ethereum L2. ### Where can users verify the migration themselves? Ronin’s block explorer gives the hard-fork evidence. The page for block 55,577,490 shows the timestamp, validator address and transaction count for the block Ronin used as the migration point. (roninchain.com) Ronin’s app gives the bridge evidence. The bridge page shows Chainlink CCIP as the active cross-chain option for Ethereum-to-Ronin transfers, and Ronin’s docs and blog preserve the migration trail for users checking token support, legacy withdrawals and current routing. (roninchain.com) May 2026 is now the operative date for the network cutover, while Ronin’s remaining user-facing cleanup appears to center on legacy bridge claims and standard CCIP-based transfers through the app. Ronin’s blog says users with pending withdrawals on the deprecated bridge should complete claims on Ethereum, and the bridge app remains the place Ronin directs users to move supported assets. (app.roninchain.com) (roninchain.com) (app.roninchain.com)