Arbitrum is an Ethereum layer-two (L2) scaling solution. It uses optimistic rollups to achieve its goal of improving speed, scalability and cost-efficiency on Ethereum. Arbitrum benefits from the security and compatibility of Ethereum. Another benefit is the higher throughput and lower fees compared to Ethereum. That is made possible thanks to moving most of the computation and storage load off-chain.
Arbitrum’s native token is called ARB and is used for governance. Offchain Labs, the developers behind Arbitrum, announced the shift to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) structure — the Arbitrum DAO. ARB holders can vote on proposals that affect the features, protocol upgrades, funds allocation and election of a Security Council.
Arbitrum has an ambitious roadmap for 2023, which includes: Launching its own layer-three solution called Orbit; Enabling developers to deploy programs written in popular programming languages like Rust, C++, and more using Stylus; Expanding its validator set to include more independent institutional validators; Moving its protocol to layer two with Arbitrum One.
On March 16, 2023, Arbitrum announced their highly anticipated airdrop of ARB. The token will be airdropped to early users and DAOs building on Arbitrum, with 12.75% of the total supply to be distributed. Recipients were rewarded on a point-based system depending on their interaction with the Arbitrum network until a cutoff date of March 1, 2023. The token generation event is on March 23, 2023.
Who Are the Founders of Arbitrum?
Arbitrum is developed by Offchain Labs, a New York-based development company. Its founders are Ed Felten, Steven Goldfeder and Harry Kalodner, former Princeton University researchers with years of experience in computer science, cryptography and blockchain.
Ed Felten is a computer science professor at Princeton and served as President Obama’s Deputy CTO. He is the co-founder and Chief Scientist of Offchain Labs.
Steven Goldfeder is a computer scientist and entrepreneur who received his Ph.D. from Princeton. He is also the co-founder and CEO of Offchain Labs.
Harry Kalodner is a computer scientist and Ph.D. candidate at Princeton. He is also the co-founder and CTO of Offchain Labs.
In 2021, Offchain Labs announced that it raised $120 million in its latest Series B funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, valuing it at $1.2 billion. Other prominent investors include Polychain Capital, Pantera Capital, Mark Cuban and more
What Makes Arbitrum Unique?
Arbitrum uses optimistic rollups to stand out from other scaling solutions for Ethereum. It claims to offer several advantages over other optimistic rollup solutions, such as:
- Compatibility: Arbitrum supports unmodified EVM contracts and transactions, meaning that any existing Ethereum DApp can run on Arbitrum without any code changes.
- Scalability: Arbitrum can handle thousands of transactions per second with low fees and fast finality, while maintaining the security guarantees of Ethereum.
- Flexibility: Arbitrum allows developers to deploy programs written in popular programming languages like Rust, C++, and more using Stylus, its upcoming EVM+ equivalence feature.
- Decentralization: Arbitrum does not rely on any centralized operator or sequencer to order transactions. Instead, it uses a decentralized network of validators who stake ARB tokens and earn fees for securing the network.
- Arbitrum also has a vibrant ecosystem of DApps, wallets, tools and partners that make it one of the leading scaling solutions for Ethereum.