Kraken unveils new Ethereum L2 built on Optimism’s Superchain

Ink’s testnet will go live in 17 days

article-image

Kraken and Adobe stock modified by Blockworks

share

Binance has BNB Chain, Coinbase has Base, OKX has the X Layer and now Kraken has Ink.

Kraken announced today its plans to launch its own Ethereum layer-2 network, Ink, expected to go live on mainnet in early 2025.

Ink uses Optimism’s OP Stack, and will be part of Optimism’s constellation of blockchains, dubbed the Superchain.

Loading Tweet..

The OP Stack is the most widely-used rollup stack today, with about 43 live chains, according to L2Beat. Other upcoming layer-2 chains include Sony’s Soneium and Uniswap’s Unichain.

Read more: Optimism plans to unify its Superchain with an interoperability layer

Based on a press release shared with Blockworks, Kraken is opting into the Optimism Superchain and will therefore share a percentage of its sequencer revenues with Optimism.

Coinbase’s Base layer-2, for instance, shares 2.5% – 15% of its sequencer revenue with the Optimism treasury. Optimism has earned about 2566 ETH in sequencer revenues from Base since its October 2023 launch.

Andrew Koller, founder of Ink, said of the launch: “A [layer-2] is only as good as the value it brings to users, and that value is created by a thriving ecosystem of developers.” 

Read more: Kraken joins Coinbase to compete with BitGo’s wBTC

The Ink blockchain is being touted by Kraken as a DeFi-centric chain, and will enjoy one-second block times on day one of its launch, with improvements to sub-second block times to come down the road.

Ink’s testnet is set to go live in 17 days. The testnet launch will come with AMAs, live demos and contests to target developers.

Founded in 2011 by Jesse Powell, Kraken is one of the oldest crypto exchanges today with about 10 million users across 180+ countries. Based on Coinmarketcap’s rankings, Kraken is the sixth largest crypto exchange today.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

article-image

The stablecoin issuer now plans to offer 32 million Class A common stock shares at a price of up to $28 each

article-image

Let’s go whale watching, Bitcoin style: Investigating the mysterious “12ib7” wallet now worth $3.2 billion

article-image

Bitget’s L2 is undergoing a leadership change and will be helmed by Colin Goltra, formerly the blockchain’s chief growth officer

article-image

The funding was spread out across 61 rounds, a slight dip in both number of rounds and total funding in comparison to other months

article-image

Why is it controversial to say things are better than they used to be?

article-image

Wallchain could make influencer ROI more measurable for Solana businesses