On December 18, 2024, Kraken, one of the largest crypto exchanges, announced the launch of its Tier 2 blockchain, Ink, on the Ethereum mainnet. This launch, initially planned for early 2025, was brought forward due to the enthusiasm of the community and the rapid progress made by the development team.
Crypto: Kraken Lance Ink, on the Ethereum Mainnet
Ink is built on Optimism's OP Stack technology, a framework that allows you to create custom rollups. Rollups are scaling solutions that process transactions off-chain while validating minimal data on the main blockchain, improving the speed and reducing costs of crypto transactions. With this technology, Ink promises to transform the DeFi user experience, providing a more efficient and profitable platform.
Additionally, Kraken received funding of 25 million OP tokens, worth approximately $58 million, to support the development of Ink. This financial support is part of Optimism’s strategy to distribute subsidies to crypto developers, contributing to the “Superchain” ecosystem. In addition to financial support, Ink benefits from partnerships with several decentralized applications, such as decentralized exchange Curve, stablecoin platform Frax, LayerZero for interoperability, and Gelato for infrastructure support.
Goals and future prospects
With Ink, Kraken aims to push the boundaries of on-chain experiences by integrating improvements in privacy, crypto security and user experience, while ensuring deep liquidity. Andrew Koller, founder of Ink, said: “Today is just the beginning for Ink, and our boldest work begins now – growing Ink.”
The launch of Ink intensifies competition for Tier 2 and Tier 3 scaling solutions on Ethereum. Smaller solutions will need to improve their offerings to compete with the crypto advancements Ink brings in terms of scalability, privacy and user experience.
In sum, Kraken's anticipated launch of Ink marks an important milestone in the evolution of DeFi, promising faster and cheaper crypto transactions, while strengthening security and interoperability within the Ethereum ecosystem.
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