Kraken’s Layer-2 Blockchain Ink Goes Live on Mainnet Ahead of Schedule

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As a seasoned analyst with over two decades of experience in the tech and finance industries, I must say that the rapid launch of Ink by Kraken is nothing short of remarkable. It’s not every day we see such a dramatic shift in timelines due to overwhelming community support and demand. This accelerated launch strategy is reminiscent of the dot-com boom days, where speed was the key to success.

Ink, the Optimism-powered L2 blockchain solution from Kraken, went live on mainnet today.

The launch occurred unexpectedly early, thanks to robust backing and excitement from the cryptocurrency community. Both Ink and Optimism look forward to a productive partnership, fueled by this surge of interest.

Ink and Optimism Team Up

Based on today’s announcement, Kraken has brought forward the release of Ink due to a high volume of testnet transactions and interconnected wallets, signaling robust demand for the project. Contrary to earlier reports, Ink was expected to launch as late as 2025. Now that the network is live earlier than anticipated, it will move towards its first stage of decentralization with permissionless fault proofs slated for January, focusing on a more distributed and resilient structure.

Today marks the start of an exciting journey for Ink, and it’s now time for our most daring endeavor – expanding Ink. We’re aiming to expand the horizons of on-chain experiences to open up novel applications and prospects for developers and users. A big thank you goes out to the early adopters of Ink who have shown nothing but enthusiasm. Together with you, we are writing the future of Ink. – Andrew Koller, founder of Ink speaking to BeInCrypto.

As reported publicly, “the push from developers and backing from the community” were key factors that led to this swift initiation. Moving forward, Ink will prioritize decentralization and compatibility as its main focal points. Unfortunately, Kraken has faced some challenges recently; an $8 million fine in Australia and closure of its NFT marketplace. However, Ink appears optimistic.

Kraken introduced Ink as a second layer solution on the Optimism network’s main chain, and officials from the network publicly acknowledged the launch. The company highlighted that Ink rapidly amassed over 100,000 users following its initial unveiling, while its testnet also experienced high levels of activity and enthusiasm.

As a researcher, I’m thrilled to express that the swift deployment of Ink’s mainnet underscores the team’s resilience, the substantial investments made in its prosperity, and the overwhelming eagerness within our developer community for this launch. Being a part of the Superchain, Ink is set to collaborate with Optimism. We eagerly anticipate this partnership as we strive to draw in developers and users towards Ink, contributing to the scaling of Ethereum, said Ryan Wyatt, the Chief Growth Officer at Optimism Unlimited.

During the lead-up to its mainnet release, Optimism faced a couple of hurdles as well. In October specifically, the ecosystem for scaling solutions was quite strained, causing the OP token to experience sudden drops in value due to market fluctuations. Despite the ongoing crypto market boom, the token’s worth didn’t improve much, and its performance throughout the year has been lackluster.

However, a high-performing Ink launch could significantly bolster Optimism in the long-term.

As things progress, Ink is set to have a close collaboration with the Optimism Superchain. According to Wyatt’s remarks exclusively shared with BeInCrypto, Ink will take part in decision-making within Optimism, direct its earnings towards the Collective, and contribute to the development of the OP Stack’s core infrastructure. Both parties seem optimistic about a long-term, prosperous relationship as a result of these intentions.

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2024-12-19 02:37