INK, a layer 2 blockchain backed by Kraken, is building out its oracle infrastructure by announcing that Chainlink will be the network’s primary oracle provider.
This represents an important step forward in the continued development of secure decentralized financial infrastructure throughout the ecosystem. This upgrade is made possible through Ink’s participation in Chainlink Scale, an initiative created to provide low-cost access to enterprise-grade oracle delivery services for blockchain ecosystems.
The announcement quickly attracted attention in the DeFi space, as the oracle infrastructure is one of the most important layers supporting decentralized applications. This also means that every lending platform, derivatives exchange, perpetual market, and any financial product connected to the Internet is to some extent dependent on accurate, up-to-date, and insecure external price information.
As part of this partnership, Ink will give developers relying on its network direct access to Chainlink data feeds, eliminating the need for each team to find and implement disparate oracle solutions independently. The integration aims to streamline development processes while improving overall ecosystem reliability.
new: @krakenfxChainlink Scale’s L2 toner joins and upgrades to data feeds as an infrared oracle solution for the ecosystem.
Through the Al-Mezan program @inkonchain It provides a significant capital commitment to give DeFi developers cost-effective access to enterprise-level oracles. https://t.co/uAWFnocHhk pic.twitter.com/LhEmcriE7I
– Chainlink (@chainlink) May 19, 2026
This partnership also highlights how layer 2 ecosystems are focusing more on enterprise-level infrastructure amid growing competition among Ethereum scaling solutions. Newer ecosystems view secure data infrastructure as an essential foundational layer for sustainable growth, rather than just optional peripherals installed on the side of the bleeding edge layer.
Ink is building DeFi infrastructure
Ink’s decision to implement Chainlink across its ecosystem demonstrates how the need for trusted oracle networks is becoming an increasingly vital component of modern DeFi frameworks. Smart contracts in DeFi lack the ability to independently access off-chain market data, requiring oracle providers to bring blockchain data outside of their native environments.
As a result, components such as liquidation engines and lending collateral calculations rely on very precise pricing inputs. Any delay, tampering or distortion in data feeds can lead to instability across entire protocols. Oracle failures have a long history of being the main reason behind triggering cascade liquidations, facilitating exploits and destroying users’ financial data in DeFi.
Inc itself faced this difficulty head-on in its announcement, emphasizing that blockchain markets ultimately rely on only one important input: price data. Until there is reliable infrastructure supporting these feeds, lending markets, perpetual protocols, and trading systems remain vulnerable.
Ink is upgrading its infrastructure from Oracle across the ecosystem to @chainlink.
By joining Chainlink Scale, Ink provides Chainlink data feeds to every protocol built on the chain.
Why this matters:
Onchain markets are driven by one input: price.
If this entry…– Ink (@inkonchain) May 19, 2026
Ink serves as the global standard for access to the right oracle infrastructure needed to securely use any data feed across the entire Chainlink data feed ecosystem from day one. Instead of projects needing to evaluate and deploy custom Oracle solutions on an individual basis, the chain has integrated a tested and trusted Oracle framework natively into its ecosystem.
Why Oracle Infrastructure is Important
Inc. News has widely mentioned the importance of oracle systems as one of the most important layers in DeFi. Blockchain networks themselves will not replace execution and settlement, they rely on external market data to bridge prices and real world events.
Accurate pricing is essential, especially for lending protocols. Since collateral values can be dynamic, liquidation mechanisms need to be updated to provide sufficient time for all positions within the market to recover from partial liquidation. Challenges related to delaying or manipulating feeding can create unhealthy centers, or cause unnecessary filtering.
The same applies to financial derivatives markets, which rely on fast and accurate data to determine positions, execute trades, and manage financing rates. When building a DeFi infrastructure targeting institutional adoption, tolerance for untrusted infrastructure is greatly reduced.
This context is crucial to understanding why Chainlink has risen to become the leading oracle provider across much of DeFi. Operating on an infrastructure of independent data aggregators, multiple independent data aggregation sources, and a decentralized community of node operators with the ability to attribute data for on-chain verification, all designed to mitigate the risk of tampering through a low-risk approach.
Inc highlighted these advantages further in the offering announcement, noting that Chainlink data feeds benefit from multi-source aggregation, independent node operators, and secure chain parameters. Combined, these features will help the protocols maintain price stability and accuracy even in a volatile market.
Chainlink expands into the cryptocurrency ecosystem
This also highlights Chainlink’s continued growth beyond the Ethereum mainnet and into new chains. Over the past two years, this oracle provider has gained a strong foundation across various lending protocols, token asset platforms, stablecoin systems, and layer 2 networks.
Chainlink’s Scale program is all about helping ecosystems subsidize developers’ oracle access costs to help accelerate network adoption as well. Participating chains can provide builders with enterprise-grade oracle infrastructure to help individual projects avoid high on-chain operating costs during the early stages of development.
This model has become more attractive over time, as new ecosystems struggle to pull dApp developers off existing chains. As a result, infrastructure partnerships are now an essential part of ecosystem growth strategies, as developers focus on security tools, access to liquidity, and integration support before deploying applications.
This partnership adds another feather to Chainlink’s cap, as it positions itself to be the industry standard oracle solution across new layer-1 blockchains. DeFi is one of the areas where the company has many deep integrations, covering a wide range of areas including lending, derivatives, tokenized real assets, and cross-chain interoperability.
Ink’s expansion is part of a larger movement across Layer 2 ecosystems that is developing an independent, “all-in-one” financial stack, capable of supporting anything from DeFi basics to institutional-level applications. More and more reliable oracle systems are an essential part of what serious liquidity providers and professional trading businesses require.
The Kraken’s Layer 2 aspirations are at full throttle
Kraken’s broader play with blockchain infrastructure can also be seen in Ink’s Oracle upgrade. Kraken is positioning its exchange-supported Layer-2 network as a scalable, secure, decentralized application environment in part due to the reputation and built infrastructure of the Kraken brand and exchange ecosystem.
Competition between Ethereum Layer-2 networks has become significantly fiercer over the past two years. Ecosystems are now racing to not only acquire users, but the infrastructure necessary for sustainable DeFi growth.
Inc hopes that its use of Chainlink across the ecosystem will help create a stronger technical base before scaling up to larger financial applications. This strategy, out of the ordinary, signals a growing realization that the sustainability of DeFi growth has as much to do with providing reliable, infrastructure-oriented services as it does with liquidity or user incentives.
This partnership may also bring new developers to launch applications on Ink, especially those looking for Oracle support without the costs of building integrations. Stake allows easy access to infrastructure. Makes setting up new projects easy.
As DeFi evolves toward broader institutional adoption, ecosystems that combine scalability, reliable infrastructure, and a hobbyist-friendly development experience may find themselves in a much better position in the long term.
Ink’s connection to Chainlink represents a broader trend that the upcoming competitive landscape for blockchains is moving away from pure transaction throughput at the moment. The quality and security of a chain’s infrastructure, as well as its ecosystem’s tools, are becoming critical factors in determining which chains will attract the next wave of DeFi applications and capital flows.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before purchasing any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
Follow us on Twitter @themerklehash To stay up to date on the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, and Metaverse news!
