Ink batches users' transactions and submits them to Ethereum, paying a share of the transaction fees to Ethereum validators (expense).

Ink is an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) blockchain built on Optimism's Superchain, focused on providing a secure, scalable infrastructure for Web3 applications.

Kraken team owns and governs the protocol. Kraken's investors include RIT Capital Partners, Hummingbird Ventures, Money Partners Group, etc.

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Blockchains (L2)

# Ink Expenses Methodology

## 1. Overview

The Ink expenses metric measures the total operational costs incurred by the Ink Layer 2 blockchain, expressed in USD on a daily basis. This metric combines two expense categories: cost of revenue (L1 settlement fees paid to Ethereum mainnet) and token incentives (currently zero). The metric answers the question "What does it cost to operate the Ink blockchain?" and provides insight into the protocol's operational efficiency and sustainability.

## 2. Data sources

The calculation relies on the following raw data sources:

- **Ethereum mainnet transaction records**: Complete transaction data including gas usage, gas prices, blob gas usage, and blob gas prices for transactions sent by the Ink sequencer
- **End-of-day token price feeds**: Daily ETH-to-USD exchange rates for currency conversion
- **Ink blockchain transaction data**: Used to establish the time dimension and ensure complete daily coverage

## 3. Step-by-step calculation

### Component A: L1 settlement cost calculation

- **Purpose**: Calculates the daily cost of settling Ink transactions on Ethereum mainnet
- **Logic**: The system identifies all Ethereum mainnet transactions sent by the Ink sequencer address `0x005969bf0ecbf6edb6c47e5e94693b1c3651be97`. For each transaction, it calculates the total gas cost by multiplying `gas_used` by `gas_price` for execution costs, and adds blob gas costs by multiplying `blob_gas_used` by `blob_gas_price` when applicable. These costs are converted from wei to ETH by dividing by 10^18. The daily settlement amounts are then aggregated by day and converted to USD using end-of-day price feeds.
- **Key fields**: `gas_used`, `gas_price`, `blob_gas_used`, `blob_gas_price`, `block_timestamp`, `to_address`

### Component B: Token incentives calculation  

- **Purpose**: Tracks token-based rewards or incentives paid by the protocol
- **Logic**: Currently set to zero for all time periods, indicating that Ink does not provide token incentives to users, validators, or other participants. The system uses the same time dimension structure as the fees metric to ensure consistent daily coverage.
- **Key fields**: `token_incentives` (always 0), `timestamp`, `chain_id`

### Final aggregation

- **Combining components**: The two expense components are combined using a union operation, where each component contributes its expense amount for each day
- **Currency conversion**: All ETH amounts are converted to USD using end-of-day token price feeds applied at the daily aggregation level  
- **Time aggregation**: Expenses are aggregated to daily boundaries using timestamp truncation to day level
- **Final calculation**: Total daily expenses equal the sum of daily L1 settlement costs (in USD) plus daily token incentives (currently $0), with any missing days filled with zero values to ensure complete time series coverage

*This methodology was automatically generated by Token Terminal's methodology analyzer.*

Total project operating and incentive expenses.

Ink

Expenses

Expenses

Competitive landscape

Chain breakdown