PANews reported on October 24 that according to Bloomberg, the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken plans to launch a blockchain for decentralized applications early next year, allowing token trading, borrowing and lending without intermediaries. The new digital ledger, called Ink, will use technology similar to Coinbase Global Inc.'s Base.
Ink founder Andrew Koller said in an interview that the developer testnet will be launched later this year, and developers will be able to try out Ink's applications on the testnet. It is expected that the blockchain will be open to retail and institutional users in the first quarter. Koller said that Kraken does not plan to issue its own tokens; Ink applications will be available through the Kraken Wallet application; more than a dozen applications will be available when Ink debuts, such as decentralized exchanges and aggregators; eventually, the chain may become the home of real-world assets and advanced lending applications; Kraken initially plans to become the chain's sorter, making money by organizing and managing transactions on the network, but the function will eventually be decentralized and shared by multiple parties.
