Perpetual Futures on Ink

Ink is a new Ethereum L2 built by Kraken using the OP Stack. It launched in late 2024 and positions itself as Kraken's on-chain execution layer, targeting traders who hold assets on Kraken and want to interact with DeFi without manual bridging steps.

Perp DEX coverage on Ink

PerpFinder does not currently track any perp DEX with live verified volume on Ink. The chain is in its early growth phase, and perp DEX deployments there have not yet cleared our 30-day volume threshold for inclusion in the ranked comparisons.

DefiLlama's Ink page shows modest TVL as of mid-2026, with activity primarily in bridging and initial DeFi bootstrapping protocols.

The Kraken integration angle

The most relevant question for perp traders on Ink is whether Kraken's exchange infrastructure creates a genuine onboarding advantage. Kraken has over 10 million registered users. If Kraken builds native Ink onboarding into its app similar to how Coinbase integrated Base, it creates a direct path from a Kraken account to a Ink-native perp DEX without the manual bridging steps that typically deter retail traders.

The Ink documentation describes the bridge architecture and validator setup. As an OP Stack chain, Ink inherits the same fraud proof security model as Optimism and Base, with the sequencer operated by Kraken.

Why watch Ink for perp DEX development

Base demonstrated that exchange-backed L2s can capture significant DeFi volume when the parent exchange integrates the chain natively. Coinbase's integration of Base drove billions in TVL within months of launch. Kraken following the same playbook with Ink is a plausible path to rapid user acquisition.

The risk is that the Base playbook succeeds partly because Coinbase has a substantially larger US retail user base than Kraken. Kraken's relative size limits the ceiling on organic Ink adoption unless it attracts DeFi activity independent of the exchange.

For perp DEXes specifically, Ink's OP Stack architecture makes deploying from Base or Optimism technically straightforward. A protocol with existing liquidity on Base could deploy on Ink as a secondary chain with minimal additional development work, bootstrapping initial volume from the Kraken user base.

PerpFinder will track Ink-native perp protocols once verifiable volume data meets our listing threshold. See current tracked protocols and chains at /perps.