Kraken to Launch its Native L2 Blockchain in 2025

October 24, 2024
Kraken has tapped on Optimism’s OP stack to build its chain atop the Ethereum network

Crypto exchange Kraken is looking to launch its own L2 blockchain, Ink, early next year.

Background

  • Following the same path as Coinbase’s L2 Base, Kraken has also tapped on Optimism’s OP stack to build its chain atop the Ethereum network
  • Ink’s testnet will go live later this year
  • Meanwhile, the blockchain is expected to become open to retail and institutional users in Q1 2025
  • Around 40 people from Kraken are working on Ink at the moment

Why should you pay attention?

  • According to the Ink team, over a dozen apps — including DEXes and aggregators — will be available on Ink when it makes its debut
  • Going forward, the chain could also become home to RWAs and advanced lending apps
  • Kraken will be the chain’s sequencer initially
  • This means it will make money by organizing and managing transactions on the network
  • To contextualize — Coinbase amassed $53 million in sequencer revenue according to its letter to shareholders
  • However, Kraken plans to decentralize this function and share it with multiple parties eventually

Who said what?

  • Chalking out what to expect from the user-experience front, Ink Founder Andrew Koller said,

“It’s a very easy-to-use, Apple-esque experience. Over time, our users will have these two centralized and decentralized ecosystems playing with each other. We want you to feel that you are doing something familiar”

  • He further went on to highlight that an L2 is only as good as the value it brings to users, and that value is created by a thriving ecosystem of developers
  • He added,

“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”

In other related news

  • Earlier this month, Kraken launched its tokenized version of Bitcoin, kBTC
  • Right off the bat, a host of blue-chip DeFi apps supported kBTC
  • Its partners included: Ethereum, Optimism, Paraswap, Yearn, Gauntlet, deBridge, Definitive, CowSwap, Beefy, Velodrome, Curve, and Morpho
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