The Block
Quick Take Crypto exchange Kraken will launch its own Layer 2 blockchain called “Ink” in the first quarter of 2025. Built using the OP Stack, Ink follows the lead of rival crypto exchange Coinbase’s launch of Base in 2023.
Quick Take Coinbase Ventures and the a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX) contributed strategic funding to Skyfire’s $8.5 million seed raise from August. The fresh financing brings the AI payments firm’s total funding raised to $9.5 million Skyfire is building the infrastructure that lets AI agents make autonomous payments, eschewing a human intermediary.
Quick Take Developers behind the Ethereum-compatible “spiderchain” network will integrate Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol and data oracles to expand bitcoin’s functionality.
Quick Take The EURC stablecoin has reached an all-time high supply of more than 90 million — equating to a market cap of nearly $100 million. A surge of growth on Base has fueled the rise, though it still represents a fraction of the supply of U.S. dollar-based stablecoins.
Bitcoin options traders are increasingly buying post-U.S. election expiry call options in the $70,000-$80,000 range, according to an analyst.Donald Trump is widening his lead over Vice President Kamala Harris on the decentralized betting platform Polymarket.
Quick Take Tokenization protocol Midas is launching a wrapped bitcoin product, mBTC, which will pay out yields of 4% paid in bitcoin-denominated assets rather than fiat.
Quick Take The bitcoin mining firm intends to offer convertible notes to fund its $200 million share repurchase program. The firm has yet to disclose the rates for the notes that are set to mature in February 2030.
EU-based crypto marketplace STOKR plans to use a major part of its recent $7.98 million fundraising to establish its bitcoin treasury.STOKR aims to follow MicroStrategy’s strategy by expanding its bitcoin treasury over the coming years.
Quick Take The team at Base said it would implement permissionless fault proofs on Oct. 30 to decentralize the network and eliminate control by a single entity.
