The Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain is launching a local token to help DeFi on Ink Chain, simply seven months after its launch.
Kraken, the second-largest centralized change by quantity in the USA, launched Ink, its Ethereum Layer 2 community, in December 2024. Lower than seven months later, the Ink Basis has introduced the approaching launch of its INK token.
The muse stated it “envisions a future where INK powers a robust DeFi ecosystem governed by its users and aligned with their success.” It additionally clarified that the INK token is not going to play a task in governance of the chain, however that the INK provide is “permanently capped and not subject to change.”
INK’s first use case is to bolster liquidity for the chain’s DeFi ecosystem, with the token anticipated to play a pivotal position in a liquidity protocol powered by Aave, the most important lending protocol in DeFi.
Tokenomics usually are not but public, however the submit clarified that there shall be an airdrop of INK for customers of the liquidity protocol. Nevertheless, it’s unclear if different DeFi actions on the chain shall be eligible for the INK airdrop. The muse additionally said that the token distribution shall be “undertaken by a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ink Foundation” versus the inspiration itself.
Ink, which was initially introduced in October 2024, launched its mainnet on December 16, 2024 and racked up greater than 1 million transactions within the first 24 hours.
Nevertheless, transaction quantity has not correlated to general liquidity on the chain, which maintains a complete worth locked (TVL) of simply $7 million. The metric reached an all-time excessive in Might, reaching $8.9 million.
Whereas the chain is in its early levels, its TVL is dwarfed by opponents similar to Coinbase’s Layer 2, Base, which boasts a TVL of $3.7 billion, and Mantle, a Layer 2 with ties to Bybit, which holds $210 million in DeFi TVL.
