Kraken Accelerates The Launch Of Its Ink Blockchain On Ethereum

On December 18, 2024, Kraken, one of the largest crypto exchange platforms, announced the launch of its level 2 blockchain, Ink, on the Ethereum mainnet. This launch, initially scheduled for early 2025, was brought forward due to the enthusiasm of the community and the rapid progress made by the development team.

Crypto: Kraken Launches Ink on the Ethereum Mainnet

Ink is built on Optimism’s OP Stack technology, an infrastructure that allows for the creation of customized rollups. Rollups are scaling solutions that process off-chain transactions while validating a minimum amount of data on the main blockchain, which improves speed and reduces the costs of crypto transactions. Thanks to this technology, Ink promises to transform the experience of users in DeFi, by providing a more efficient and cost-effective platform.

Moreover, Kraken has received funding of 25 million OP tokens, worth approximately 58 million dollars, to support the development of Ink. This financial support aligns with Optimism’s strategy to distribute grants to crypto developers, contributing to the “Superchain” ecosystem. In addition to financial support, Ink benefits from partnerships with several decentralized applications, such as the decentralized exchange Curve, the stablecoin platform Frax, LayerZero for interoperability, and Gelato for infrastructure support.

Objectives and Future Perspectives

With Ink, Kraken aims to push the limits of on-chain experiences by integrating improvements in privacy, crypto security, and user experience, while ensuring deep liquidity. Andrew Koller, founder of Ink, stated: “Today is just the beginning for Ink, and our boldest work starts now – growing Ink.”

The launch of Ink intensifies competition for level 2 and 3 scaling solutions on Ethereum. Smaller solutions will need to enhance their offerings to compete with the crypto advancements brought by Ink in terms of scalability, privacy, and user experience.

In summary, the early launch of Ink by Kraken marks an important milestone in the evolution of DeFi, promising faster and cheaper crypto transactions while enhancing security and interoperability within the Ethereum ecosystem.