Ink, Kraken's Ethereum Layer 2 network built on Optimism's OP Stack, processed more than one million transactions within 24 hours of its mainnet going live on December 16.
Ink, Kraken's Ethereum Layer 2 network built on Optimism's OP Stack, processed more than one million transactions within 24 hours of its mainnet going live on December 16. The launch arrived months ahead of the originally planned Q1 2025 timeline.
Kraken announced Ink in October and opened a testnet in November. The testnet attracted hundreds of thousands of connected wallets and millions of test transactions before the team decided to push the mainnet forward. A Discord community for the project passed 100,000 members within weeks of the initial announcement.
The network features one-second block times, sub-cent transaction fees, and full EVM compatibility. ETH serves as the gas token. Ink connects to the broader Optimism Superchain ecosystem, allowing users to move tokens across participating chains using the SuperchainERC20 standard.
Kraken secured 25 million OP tokens in grants from the Optimism Foundation to support the rollout. Launch partners include decentralised exchange Curve, stablecoin platform Frax, infrastructure provider Gelato, and interoperability protocol LayerZero among more than a dozen integrations.
The transaction milestone is notable for a first-day figure, though early volume on new chains often reflects bridge activity and airdrop speculation rather than sustained usage. Total value locked on Ink stood at $7 million at launch, a figure that has not yet matched the transaction throughput.
Kraken described Ink's mission as bridging the gap between exchange users and decentralised finance applications. The team plans to progress toward Stage 1 decentralisation with permissionless fault proofs in January.
