Kraken’s Ink L2 TVL jumps

Kraken-backed Ink has climbed to roughly $478 million in decentralized-finance deposits, extending a rapid rise on the exchange’s new Ethereum layer-2 network. (defillama.com) DefiLlama’s chain dashboard showed Ink at about $477 million in total value locked on April 13, 2026, after a sharp run-up from much lower levels in recent months. The Defiant reported the network had already crossed $500 million earlier in April after a long flat period gave way to faster inflows. (defillama.com) (thedefiant.io) Ink is a layer 2, a separate network that batches activity before settling it back to Ethereum, and Kraken built it on Optimism’s OP Stack inside the Superchain group of connected chains. Kraken said Ink is meant to make decentralized-finance apps easier to use through lower fees and faster transactions. (inkonchain.com) (blog.kraken.com) (optimism.io) The current jump has been concentrated rather than broad-based. The Defiant reported earlier this month that more than 97% of a previous two-week surge came from Tydro, a lending protocol launched by Ink itself, while daily active users had fallen by more than half from their peak even as deposits kept climbing. (thedefiant.io 1) (thedefiant.io 2) That concentration helps explain what the headline number does and does not show. Total value locked measures assets parked in onchain apps, not how many people use the chain day to day or whether the liquidity will stay after incentives fade. (defillama.com) (thedefiant.io) Kraken introduced Ink in late 2024 as its answer to exchange-run blockchains such as Coinbase’s Base, pitching a direct path from a trading app into lending, swaps, and payments onchain. Optimism said Ink joined the Superchain under the same revenue-sharing and governance framework used by other OP Stack chains. (blog.kraken.com) (optimism.io) (eco.com) Kraken and the Ink Foundation also said last year that an INK token would be integrated into Kraken’s product suite, with the token aimed at onchain capital-markets use rather than governance of the chain itself. Third-party coverage at the time said the supply would be fixed at 1 billion tokens and that governance of the network would remain with the Optimism Collective. (blog.kraken.com) (coincodex.com) Ink’s own site still markets the network as a low-friction bridge into decentralized finance, and the next test is whether the recent deposit surge turns into sustained trading, borrowing, and payments activity. (inkonchain.com)