Kraken, the world’s sixth-largest crypto exchange, is launching its own layer-2 network, Ink, atop Ethereum, leveraging technology from Optimism—also behind Coinbase's successful Base. This move follows a year of speculation after Kraken saw Base’s impressive debut in mid-2023.

Ink is built on the OP stack, a flexible toolkit for developers to create custom blockchains. Set to launch in early 2025, it aims to position itself within the growing "Superchain" ecosystem, which now includes over 43 rollups powered by Optimism, collectively holding a total value locked (TVL) of $18.1 billion.

While Arbitrum leads in TVL at $13.6 billion, Kraken’s Ink could strengthen Optimism’s dominance in the layer-2 space. “An L2 is only as good as the value it brings to users,” said Ink founder Andrew Koller, emphasizing the network's focus on fostering a vibrant developer ecosystem for future DeFi innovations.

Kraken, the world’s sixth-largest crypto exchange, is launching its own layer-2 network, Ink, atop Ethereum, leveraging technology from Optimism—also behind Coinbase's successful Base. This move follows a year of speculation after Kraken saw Base’s impressive debut in mid-2023.

Ink is built on the OP stack, a flexible toolkit for developers to create custom blockchains. Set to launch in early 2025, it aims to position itself within the growing "Superchain" ecosystem, which now includes over 43 rollups powered by Optimism, collectively holding a total value locked (TVL) of $18.1 billion.

While Arbitrum leads in TVL at $13.6 billion, Kraken’s Ink could strengthen Optimism’s dominance in the layer-2 space. “An L2 is only as good as the value it brings to users,” said Ink founder Andrew Koller, emphasizing the network's focus on fostering a vibrant developer ecosystem for future DeFi innovations.