News linked to both this project and an event.
Ink, an Ethereum Layer 2 network incubated by Kraken, has reached a multi-year infrastructure agreement with Optimism, upgrading to OP Enterprise Fully Managed.Under the agreement, Optimism will be responsible for running Ink's production infrastructure, while the Ink Foundation will focus on ecosystem growth and new financial products. Additionally, Ink will serve as a deep design partner for OP Enterprise, jointly advancing roadmap plans including programmable block construction, one-day Ethereum withdrawals, and sequencer-level compliance tools.Currently, applications built on the Ink network generate nearly $40 million in annual revenue. This partnership makes Ink another exchange-related blockchain network to join the fully managed layer service, following Bitpanda's Vision Chain. (The Block)
According to CoinPost, Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Digital Society Promotion Headquarters’ “Next-Generation AI & On-Chain Finance Vision Project Team” released a policy proposal on May 19, advocating the integration of AI and blockchain to automate and enable 24/7 operation of decision-making, financing, and asset management—and designating finance as the “18th Growth Investment Sector.” Specific measures proposed in the document include: advancing tokenization of demand deposits at the Bank of Japan (including wholesale CBDC), with conceptual frameworks to be finalized by year-end; joint issuance of a stablecoin by Japan’s three major banks, targeting the launch of live operations by March next year; and promoting on-chain tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs), such as accounts receivable and real estate. At the international cooperation level, the proposal calls for establishing an “AI & On-Chain Finance Asia Policy Dialogue Framework” and advancing cross-border settlements using yen-denominated stablecoins, thereby realizing the “Global SC Corridor Vision.”