Backfill entry The INK token was confirmed by the Ink Foundation in October 2025 and points have been accruing across the ecosystem since, including a first Kraken Pro point drop in April 2026 per reporting. We are adding the entry now for tracker completeness because the reported distribution window, the second half of 2026, is approaching and every eligibility track remains open today.
Most confirmed-token programs on this tracker come from standalone protocols hoping usage shows up. Ink inverts that: the usage funnel already exists, and it is Kraken. The exchange incubated Ink as its Ethereum layer 2, live on mainnet since late 2024 as part of the OP Superchain, and in October 2025 the Ink Foundation confirmed a network token with unusual candor about what it is for. INK has a fixed supply of one billion, carries no governance rights, and exists to bootstrap liquidity and reward adoption of Ink-native applications, starting with Tydro, the lending market built as a white-label instance of Aave v3, per The Block. That combination, a confirmed token with no date attached and a top-five exchange as the distribution channel, is exactly the profile this tracker exists to watch.
Ink points credited retroactively, first drop April 2026 per reporting.
Aave v3 white-label on Ink; wETH, kBTC, stablecoin markets.
Season 1 points live, convert to INK at TGE per the project.
Advisor interviews point to Q3; no official date exists.
What is actually confirmed, and by whom
The token itself rests on the strongest kind of source, the foundation's own statements: one billion fixed supply, no governance role, liquidity incentives for Ink-native capital flows. The eligibility tracks rest on a mix of project communications and consistent reporting. Nado, the central-limit orderbook perp DEX on Ink, runs a live Season 1 points program and has said points convert to INK at the token generation event; it has already airdropped an official NFT collection to early users, per The Defiant. Tydro users accumulate points that The Block's reporting tied to future airdrop claims the day the protocol launched. The Kraken Pro track is the one we hold most loosely: multiple airdrop guides report spot trading on the exchange earns Ink points, with a first retroactive drop in April 2026, but Kraken itself has been quieter than its ecosystem about mechanics. The timeline comes from interviews with an advisor to both Ink and Nado, who has pointed at the third quarter of 2026. That is a person close to the project speaking, not an announcement, and we mark the status confirmed on the token while treating every date as reporting.
How we would play it, and what we would not do
The honest framing is that this is a mid-cost, medium-conviction program with an unusually credible endpoint. If you already trade on Kraken, the first track costs you nothing beyond fees you were paying anyway, which is the best kind of eligibility. The onchain tracks ask for more: capital parked in Tydro earns lending yield while it accrues points, and Nado trading involves real execution risk on a young venue, so size both like the speculative positions they are, with the discipline from our safe farming guide. What we would not do is chase allocation estimates. No formula, rate, or snapshot date is public, which means every INK calculator circulating on X is fiction, and a confirmed token with no claim date is the precise setup scammers front-run; the scam checklist covers the pattern. For the comparable case of a giant distribution funnel with a still-undated token, see our Base entry. When Ink publishes real mechanics, this page moves first and a news piece follows.
How to position yourself
- Trade on Kraken Pro if you already use the exchange: per reporting, spot activity there earns Ink points, with the first retroactive point drop credited in April 2026. This is the lowest-friction track for existing Kraken users.
- Use Tydro, the Aave v3 based lending market on Ink, with assets you would deploy anyway (wETH, kBTC, stablecoins). Tydro activity accrues points that the project has tied to the future INK distribution.
- Trade perps on Nado, the orderbook DEX on Ink, where Season 1 points are live and convert to INK at the token generation event per the project's own communications.
- Ignore any site offering an INK claim today. No claim exists, no date is official, and a confirmed-but-undated token is standard phishing bait. Bookmark inkonchain.com and wait for an announcement there.
Reality check None of these steps guarantee an allocation. Teams change criteria late, add anti-sybil filters, and sometimes never ship a token at all. Only spend time and gas you are fine writing off.
