Crypto Exchange Kraken Launching Ethereum Layer-2 Network Ink

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has unveiled Ink, an Ethereum-based layer-2 blockchain powered by Optimism's OP Stack. 

Ink will offer on-chain wealth management tools for seasoned digital asset traders and crypto-curious clients, Kraken said Thursday in a joint statement with the Optimism Collective. The network, which rolls out on testnet in November, will be interoperable with Optimism's Superchain, a network of layer-2s that share security and infrastructure.

“As part of the Superchain, Ink is laying the groundwork for an interoperable and pluralistic on-chain ecosystem that will attract developers and make Ink the ideal platform for the next generation of DeFi applications and protocols,” Ink founder Andrew Koller said Thursday in a statement.

Optimism's Superchain is composed of nearly 30 chains such as Base, Zora, Unichain, and World Chain from the Sam Altman-founded World (aka Worldcoin). It records over 7 million daily transactions, accounting for nearly half of all layer-2 transactions on Ethereum, according to the Optimism Collective.

By joining the Superchain, Ink will be able to more easily communicate and share resources with other such networks, allowing it to access a larger potential user base. That interoperability aims to prevent a common problem known as fragmentation, or layer-2 networks competing against each other for users and liquidity on Ethereum.     

In exchange for using the OP Stack, Ink will engage in revenue sharing with the Optimism Collective, as well as  participate in Optimism's governance. In addition, its developers will support core development of the OP Stack.

Ink will likely launch on mainnet in early 2025. Upon launch, the network aims to offer one-second block times, allowing it to speedily process time-sensitive transactions. Those fast processing times will facilitate a wide range of activities on Ink, including perpetual futures trading, decentralized lending, and yield farming, among other transactions.

Kraken's move follows that of Coinbase with Base, which is also built on Optimism and has rapidly become one of the most prominent Ethereum layer-2 networks since its launch in early 2023.

Edited by Andrew Hayward