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Arbitrum

65 pieces · May 2022 to Jan 2026 · 12 flagship

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L1/L258 Ethereum36 DeFi12 ZK7 Market structure5 Tooling3

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Start here · the strongest pieces on Arbitrum

Data22 Mar 2024NEAR DA data analysis: Arbitrum would have saved $16.2M in 10 weeksData case for NEAR DA: rollups spent 9,000 to 16,000 ETH monthly on DA, EIP-4844 helps only partly and temporarily, and NEAR's sharded Nightshade design would have cost an Arbitrum-stack rollup $87.62 versus over $16M on Ethereum in 10 weeks.Thesis26 Jul 2023L2 guide: which ecosystems stand out (Arbitrum, Scroll, Polygon zkEVM, zkSync)Assesses leading L2 ecosystems by tech, decentralization and growth drivers, with Arbitrum (Orbit, Stylus), Scroll (type 2 zkEVM), Polygon (plonky3, interop layer) and zkSync (Boojum, ZK Stack, zkPorter). Holds zk as the endgame.Breakdown01 Nov 2023Shared sequencing research report: 10 key findings (with Pansophic)TLDR of a 45-page co-authored report: sequencing is centralized and siloed today, decentralized and shared sequencing are separate axes, and shared sequencing offers decentralization-as-a-service and limited atomic composability.

Timeline · every piece, newest first

2026 1

14 Jan 2026Fluent blended execution: EVM, SVM and Wasm compiled into rWasmExplains how Fluent compiles EVM, Solana rBPF and Wasm execution into one rWasm VM, so cross-VM calls are atomic and a single state transition is proven. Argues modularity should empower opinionated chains.ExplainerL1/L2Ethereum41 likes

2025 11

27 Dec 2025Ethereum L2 value secured is concentrated in Arbitrum and BaseL2BEAT TVS data shows the top two L2s hold most value secured, with TVS composition differing by canonical, native and external bridged assets. Concentration proxies where composability and large-user comfort sit.DataL1/L2Ethereum37 likes

24 Oct 2025Developer growth by ecosystem: Solana, Base, Sui up; Polygon, Arbitrum downElectric Capital data shows Solana/SVM, Bitcoin, Base and the Move stack (via Sui) growing in developers over two years. Polygon and Arbitrum lost over 30%, Polkadot and Cosmos are down, Starknet and NEAR show modest gains.DataSolanaEthereumL1/L225 likes

24 Oct 2025RWA chain rankings ex-stablecoins: Aptos third, ZKsync secondExcluding stablecoins, Aptos is the third biggest RWA chain on BUIDL and tokenized private credit, Arbitrum is fifth on tokenized private equity, and ZKsync is second at nearly $2.4B, mostly private credit.DataRWAL1/L218 likes

23 Oct 2025General-purpose EVM L2s and the case for network extensionsArgues Ethereum does not need 50 vanilla EVM L2s and favors specialized L2s and Solana-style network extensions that add functionality. Notes the unresolved question of L2 value accrual to the L1.ThesisL1/L2EthereumSolana12 likes

14 Jul 2025Arbitrum Orbit growth versus ARB value accrualOrbit grew to 41 mostly app-specific chains with >$14B bridged and 9k+ devs, yet ARB is only a governance token with no staking or fee capture. Orbit chains pay gas and bond in ETH or native tokens, so ecosystem growth adds little ARB demand.BreakdownL1/L2Market structure53 likes

10 Jun 2025Allora and Ember VibeKit on Arbitrum: predictive intelligence for agentsExplains Allora's topic-based network of workers, reputers and validators with context-aware weighting, and how its Ember VibeKit integration enables predictive yield, trading, DCA and leverage management. Ends with execution risks: model quality, latency, cold start.ExplainerAIDeFi41 likes

05 Jun 2025Arbitrum Trailblazer 2.0 and Vibekit: a $1M push for agentic DeFiBreaks down Arbitrum's $1M Trailblazer 2.0 grants for agent-based DeFi automation built on Ember's Vibekit MCP framework, with GMX, Pendle, Aave and Camelot integrated first. Argues it positions Arbitrum at the front of the DeFAI wave.BreakdownDeFiAI12 likes

05 Jun 2025Two-year TVL comparison: Berachain, Hyperliquid, Sui, Sonic, Base, ArbitrumReads a DefiLlama TVL chart: Berachain looks like a pump and dump, Hyperliquid is about to overtake Sui, Optimism's mainnet TVL fell as the Superchain shifted activity to Base, Sonic TVL fell after its airdrop, Base and Arbitrum stay strong.DataDeFiL1/L232 likes

03 Jun 2025Ethereum L2 activity data: Base holds 70% of weekly active addressesUsing growthepie data, L2 activity is 7.55x the L1 and up 18% on the week, yet only 590k users are active on multiple chains. Base alone accounts for 70% of weekly active addresses, Ethereum 12.6% and Arbitrum 7.8%.DataEthereumL1/L215 likes

03 Jun 2025Arbitrum Timeboost: sealed-bid express lane and its share of revenueExplains Timeboost, an optional sealed-bid auction for a 200ms express lane in transaction ordering that has generated over $1M in fees. It made up 43% of Arbitrum's May revenue and 70% weekly, a model for sustainable L2 revenue.ExplainerL1/L2Market structure16 likes

02 Jun 2025Base growth decoupling from other L2s on addresses, throughput and transactionsCharts of active addresses, throughput and transaction count suggest Base has decoupled from other L2s in growth, with only Arbitrum able to keep up.DataL1/L2Ethereum23 likes

2024 17

12 Sep 2024Stage 0 vs Stage 1 rollups and Vitalik's stage 1 requirementExplains the differences between stage 0 and stage 1 rollups after Vitalik said he would only mention stage 1+ L2s from next year. Stage 1 requires a proof system, stricter multisig, security council override and upgrade delays.ExplainerL1/L2Ethereum25 likes

20 Jul 2024TVL wars charts: alt L1s vs L2s, and Solana vs OP, Arbitrum, BaseTwo TVL charts framing alt L1s against L2s: Aptos, Sui and Sei vs Scroll and Mantle, and Solana vs Arbitrum, Optimism and Base. The post itself gives no takeaways.DataL1/L224 likes

19 Jul 2024Cross-chain flows, 3 months: $1.75B net outflow from Ethereum to L2sArtemis data shows $1.75B net outflows from Ethereum over three months, with inflows of $1B to Optimism, $664M to Arbitrum and $300M to Base. Asks whether L2 season is coming.DataEthereumL1/L223 likes

04 Jul 2024Particle Network's Chain Abstraction Coalition and why modular needs itCovers Particle's alliance of 50 L1 and L2 ecosystems aimed at unifying users and liquidity. Argues the modular multichain future fragments liquidity and UX, so app adoption needs chain abstraction: one account, one balance, any chain.ExplainerL1/L218 likes

03 Jul 2024Radius: Shared Sequencing powered by EigenLayerLong-form on why centralized sequencers hurt censorship resistance, liveness and safety, and how Radius's encrypted mempool (PVDE then SKDE) and EigenLayer AVS deliver MEV-resistant shared sequencing and cross-rollup composability.ArticleL1/L2Ethereum19 likes

28 Jun 2024Optimism Superchain explained: OP Stack, shared sequencing and RaaSExplains the OP Superchain: shared governance, sequencer revenue sharing and atomic cross-chain interop via a shared sequencer, plus the role of Rollup-as-a-Service providers. Argues OP is a multichain ecosystem, not just OP Mainnet, despite a 60% drawdown from its ATH.ExplainerL1/L237 likes

07 Jun 2024Cross-chain bridge flows: Arbitrum, Optimism and Base lead 30-day inflowsUses Artemis and DefiLlama bridge data to track where liquidity moves. Ethereum originates 78.1% of bridge volume and Arbitrum, Optimism and Base capture 72% of destination flows, with zkSync net flows only slightly positive despite the pending ZK token.DataL1/L2DeFi16 likes

01 Jun 2024RISC Zero Universal Verifier coming to Ethereum, Base, Optimism and ArbitrumExplains why general purpose zkVMs matter: R0 proves arbitrary Rust code without custom circuits, and the Universal Verifier lets any chain verify those proofs. Links Zeth's provable Optimism block building to simpler fault proofs and eventual validity proofs on the OP Stack.ExplainerZKL1/L256 likes

19 May 2024Axelar on-chain data: 64 chains, GMP dominance and cross-chain volumeData thread on Axelar, an interoperability L1 with a 75+ validator set using threshold signatures. General message passing dominates activity, with BNB and Sei leading by dollar value on fewer transactions, which suggests whale activity.DataL1/L2DeFi28 likes

18 May 2024Why Ankr RaaS can win the app-chain summerArgues Rollup-as-a-Service is the catalyst for app-chains and Ankr will gain share because it already runs a global node and RPC network, unlike nascent competitors. Lists supported stacks (OP Stack, Orbit, ZK Stack, Fluentbase, Polygon CDK) and DA and interop integrations.ThesisL1/L2DePIN26 likes

18 May 2024Sovereign rollups vs smart contract rollups on CelestiaExplains that sovereign rollups handle execution and settlement via app light clients while the DA layer only orders and stores data, unlike smart contract rollups that settle on Ethereum. Weighs bridge, security and upgrade trade-offs and expects early NFT, gaming and meme chains.ExplainerL1/L240 likes

01 May 2024Optimism Superchain thesis: OP Stack and the Stack WarsSummarizes Redacted Research's Superchain report: chains on the OP Stack opt into shared governance and sequencer revenue sharing, with a shared bridge and synchronous upgrades. Flags that no live fault proofs exist on mainnet yet, so users trust the centralized sequencer.BreakdownL1/L2Ethereum38 likes

18 Apr 2024Modular execution layers map: VMs, rollup SDKs and RaaSLandscape of modular execution layers grouped by VM (optimistic EVM, zkEVM, MoveVM, SVM, Wasm, FuelVM, Cairo VM), rollup SDKs and RaaS providers. Frames a rollup-centric future of app-specific chains unified by ZK interop.MapL1/L2Ethereum85 likes

25 Mar 2024Rollup landscape by DA and validation: optimistic, ZK, optimium and validiumClassifies live L2s by state validation and DA design: optimistic rollups, ZK rollups, optimiums (Manta, Metis, Mantle) and validiums (Immutable, Manta soon).MapL1/L2Ethereum31 likes

22 Mar 2024NEAR DA data analysis: Arbitrum would have saved $16.2M in 10 weeksData case for NEAR DA: rollups spent 9,000 to 16,000 ETH monthly on DA, EIP-4844 helps only partly and temporarily, and NEAR's sharded Nightshade design would have cost an Arbitrum-stack rollup $87.62 versus over $16M on Ethereum in 10 weeks.DataL1/L2Ethereum152 likes

08 Mar 2024zkAutomate thesis: account abstraction automation and gasless perp tradingBull-market thesis for zkAutomate, a non-custodial AA-based automation platform with a gasless orderbook perp engine, up to 50x leverage triggers, no-code bots and a ZK-powered strategy NFT marketplace. Mainnet planned Q2 on Scroll, Arbitrum and Taiko.ThesisDeFiPerpsTooling39 likes

01 Mar 2024Mangata cross-rollup swaps for unified L2 liquidityContrasts today's L2-to-L2 transfers (withdraw to L1, deposit, swap) with Mangata's master rollup, which looks like an L2 to Ethereum and an L3 to L2s, offering gas-free swaps with escape hatches and MEV protection.ExplainerDeFiL1/L229 likes

2023 25

14 Dec 2023Arbitrum Orbit as a candidate for Celo's L2: fit against requirementsEvaluates Arbitrum Orbit for Celo's L2 move: decentralized sequencing, EigenDA and Celestia options, 1-block finality, trustless bridging, live permissioned fraud proofs (Stage 1), BOLD and Stylus.BreakdownL1/L2Ethereum22 likes

08 Dec 2023Optimism RetroPGF3: how it compares to Arbitrum STIP and what it means for OPArgues RPGF3 is similar to STIP as treasury funding (30M OP, over $60M vs about $70M for STIP) but retroactive and broader, so less mercenary farming and a smaller OP-season effect. Expects retroactive DAO funding to be a 2024 narrative.Market takeL1/L2Other4 likes

04 Dec 2023Total value bridged growth: rollups vs validiums and optimiums7-day TVB growth data shows Mantle (+44.21%) and Metis (+24.26%) outpacing Arbitrum, Optimism and Base. Argues rising gas fees will push users to alt-DA and modular DA will capture share this cycle.DataL1/L2Market structure3 likes

02 Dec 2023Celo's L2 migration: OP Stack vs Polygon CDK vs ZK Stack comparedCompares OP Stack, Polygon CDK and ZK Stack proposals for Celo against criteria such as EigenDA support, decentralized sequencing, EVM equivalence, validity proofs and interop. Favors Polygon CDK or OP Stack.BreakdownL1/L2Ethereum81 likes

10 Nov 2023Narratives vs catalysts: how to identify and play crypto narrativesFramework for narratives (technology, use case, event or externally driven) versus shorter-lived catalysts, with EIP-4844, Arbitrum STIP, EigenLayer and Celestia as examples. Argues an investment thesis should be built on narratives and exited when catalysts run out.ExplainerMarket structure32 likes

01 Nov 2023Shared sequencing research report: 10 key findings (with Pansophic)TLDR of a 45-page co-authored report: sequencing is centralized and siloed today, decentralized and shared sequencing are separate axes, and shared sequencing offers decentralization-as-a-service and limited atomic composability.BreakdownL1/L2EthereumMarket structure97 likes

14 Oct 2023L2Beat rollup stages explained: Stage 0, 1 and 2 criteria and who qualifiesGuide to L2Beat's three-stage rollup framework (training wheels) with criteria per stage, and which rollups sit where. Most are Stage 0, Arbitrum and dYdX are Stage 1, and only Fuel v1 and DeGate reach Stage 2.ExplainerL1/L2Ethereum10 likes

30 Aug 2023Modular stack part 1: execution layers and virtual machinesExplains monolithic versus modular design (execution, settlement, DA, consensus) and walks through the EVM and the three routes to a zkEVM: prove the EVM trace directly, map EVM opcodes to a custom VM, or transpile Solidity to a custom VM.ExplainerL1/L2ZK65 likes

28 Aug 2023L2/L3 execution layer framework: ten rollup stacks and their thesesWork-in-progress framework summarizing each major rollup stack's thesis, e.g. fractal L3 scaling on Starknet, recursive L3 zk rollups on zkSync, Superchain shared sequencing on Optimism and EigenDA outsourcing on Mantle, with links to deeper threads.MapL1/L2ZK83 likes

18 Aug 2023Is Metis still an L2 play for the next cycle?Argues Metis has strong tech innovation and low valuation, but off-chain data via Memolabs, an unfinished fraud-proof system, no escape hatch and a stagnating DeFi ecosystem leave it behind other L2s. Concludes it is not currently a top L2 pick.ThesisL1/L26 likes

26 Jul 2023L2 guide: which ecosystems stand out (Arbitrum, Scroll, Polygon zkEVM, zkSync)Assesses leading L2 ecosystems by tech, decentralization and growth drivers, with Arbitrum (Orbit, Stylus), Scroll (type 2 zkEVM), Polygon (plonky3, interop layer) and zkSync (Boojum, ZK Stack, zkPorter). Holds zk as the endgame.ThesisL1/L2EthereumZK127 likes

21 Jul 2023Rollups are not decentralized yet: sequencer status and shared sequencersReviews sequencer and validator centralization at Optimism, Arbitrum, zkSync Era and Polygon zkEVM and failure modes. Presents shared sequencers as decentralization-as-a-service for rollups.ThesisL1/L2Ethereum47 likes

15 Jul 2023Why Camelot's 9M ARB incentive request should be deniedArgues the Camelot proposal would give it an unfair advantage and pick winners through governance. L2 architecture and ecosystem funding need to be credibly neutral, and Arbitrum should not subsidize artificial growth.Market takeDeFiL1/L20 likes

27 Jun 2023Manta Network news guide: zkSBTs, partnerships and grants, May-June 2023Catch-up guide on two months of Manta news: the Privatize to Maximize incentive campaign, zkSBTs on Arbitrum, CyberConnect zkProfile, Linea and BNB Chain zkBAB adoption, the grants program and partnerships.BreakdownPrivacyZK41 likes

23 May 2023Ethereum L2 adoption in May 2023: scaling factor, TPS and TVLL2BEAT-based data thread: L2 scaling factor versus L1, rising L2 activity, and TVL roughly doubling YTD. Optimistic rollups hold most TVL, and zk-rollups are expected to gain share as adoption grows.DataL1/L2Ethereum4 likes

19 Apr 2023Valuing protocols with Token Terminal financial statements and P/S, P/FShows how Token Terminal's standardized financial statements and P/S and P/F multiples let investors compare dApps and L2s TradFi-style, with Q2 2023 examples of apparent over and undervaluation.ExplainerToolingDeFi7 likes

18 Apr 2023Plutus DAO: governance aggregator on Arbitrum, the Convex of ARBFrames Plutus as the Convex of Arbitrum: PLS is a bet on rising Arbitrum ecosystem governance value. Users deposit supported tokens for plsTokens with higher APR, and the goal is to become a governance blackhole on L2.BreakdownDeFiL1/L22 likes

16 Apr 2023Arbitrum's share of Ethereum L2 fees: 41% vs Polygon, Optimism, StarknetBreaks down the split of L2 fees on Ethereum, with Arbitrum taking the largest share.DataL1/L2Ethereum20 likes

16 Apr 2023ARB vs OP relative valuation via market cap to TVLExplains mcap/TVL as a relative valuation tool and applies it: Arbitrum at 5 versus Optimism at 12, implying ARB may be undervalued relative to OP.DataL1/L2Ethereum6 likes

16 Apr 2023Arbitrum valuation vs Polygon and Optimism on price-to-feesUses P/F (FDV over annualized fees) from Token Terminal to argue Arbitrum still looks undervalued relative to Polygon and Optimism, and links a longer piece on ARB value.DataL1/L2Ethereum21 likes

08 Apr 2023Developer activity by ecosystem: contract deployments and commitsUses Artemis data on contracts deployed, unique deployers, commits and active devs. BNB Chain, Polygon and Ethereum lead EVM deployments, Base's testnet tops L2 activity, and Ethereum has the largest dev community.DataL1/L2EthereumTooling4 likes

08 Apr 2023Top 15 protocol treasuries: Arbitrum, Uniswap and BitDAO leadRanking of the top 15 protocol treasuries from DefiLlama, led by Arbitrum, Uniswap and BitDAO. Flags BitDAO and its upcoming Mantle L2 as a 2023 watchlist name given strong funding and tech.DataDeFiL1/L22 likes

22 Mar 2023Arbitrum Stylus: WASM smart contracts alongside the EVMIntroduces Stylus, which lets Arbitrum One and Nova run WASM programs written in Rust, C and C++ alongside the EVM, with sandboxed execution, custom precompiles and much faster compute.ExplainerEthereumL1/L26 likes

10 Jan 2023CAPE by Espresso Systems: configurable privacy for tokens, now on ArbitrumCAPE is an Espresso Systems smart contract app for configurable privacy of digital assets. Users create or wrap ERC-20 tokens and define viewing policies over addresses, amounts and asset types. Now live on Arbitrum testnet.ExplainerPrivacyL1/L27 likes

08 Jan 2023Arbitrum and Optimism catch up with Polygon PoS on daily active addressesNotes that rollups kept shipping through the bear market, with a chart showing Arbitrum and Optimism rapidly closing the gap to Polygon PoS on daily active addresses. Expects zkEVMs to change the game again.DataL1/L2Ethereum12 likes

2022 11

10 Dec 2022The modular blockchain design space: execution, settlement and DA layersMega thread defining execution, settlement and consensus/DA, then mapping modular layers: rollups and Fuel for execution, Celestia, Avail and EigenDA for DA, and Oasis for custom ParaTimes, with the thesis that modular is the future.MapL1/L2Ethereum31 likes

22 Sep 2022Index: rollups, zkEVM, data availability and airdrop threads (Sept 2022)Thread of threads organizing the author's modular scaling research: rollup intro and landscape, zkEVM, protocol deep dives, DA problem, EIP-4844, Celestia, Cevmos, Avail and airdrop guides.MapEthereumL1/L25 likes

12 Sep 2022GMX valuation: 10 year DCF of 5.7bn vs 630m FDVRelays a DCF-based case that GMX is undervalued: a 10 year DCF gives 5.7bn against a current FDV of 630m, implying roughly 9x.Market takeDeFiPerps1 likes

06 Sep 2022State of Arbitrum, Sept 2022: users, TVL, fees and ecosystem dataData-driven look at Arbitrum with Token Terminal, Dune and L2BEAT numbers on active users, bridge flows, contract deployments, fees, TVL and ecosystem, concluding fundamentals are bullish with growth that is organic and token-free.DataEthereumL1/L260 likes

06 Sep 2022Arbitrum One momentum: 36% MoM growth in daily active usersHighlights a 36% month-over-month rise in Arbitrum One daily active users after the Nitro upgrade, with Nova a month old. Notes it is the only top-10 protocol by TVL without a token and the largest optimistic rollup by TVL without incentives.DataL1/L2Ethereum3 likes

15 Jun 2022Index: rollup scaling, data availability and L2 airdrop threads (June 2022)Thread of threads indexing the author's rollup work: scaling intro, rollup landscape, EIP-4844, Optimism, Arbitrum, Metis, L3, dAMM, airdrop guides and the DA and Celestia series.MapEthereumL1/L25 likes

10 Jun 2022Arbitrum AnyTrust: off-chain data committees with minimal trustExplains how AnyTrust chains post only data hashes to Ethereum while a data availability committee holds the data, with a fallback to rollup mode if the quorum fails, trading some security for lower fees.ExplainerEthereumL1/L25 likes

01 Jun 2022EIP-4844 explained: proto-danksharding and cheaper data for rollupsExplains why rollups need cheaper data and how EIP-4844 adds blob-carrying transactions with their own EIP-1559-style fee market as a step toward full danksharding, without yet sharding the chain.ExplainerEthereumL1/L219 likes

19 May 2022Ethereum rollup landscape: optimistic and ZK rollups comparedLandscape thread covering optimistic rollups (Optimism, Arbitrum, Boba, Metis) with fraud proofs and challenge periods, and ZK rollups (Starknet, StarkEx, zkSync, Immutable X) including the L3 recursion idea.MapEthereumL1/L2ZK4 likes

19 May 2022Scaling Ethereum on rollups: sequencers, fraud proofs, validity proofs and DALong explainer comparing monolithic scaling, sharding and parachains with rollups. Covers sequencers, optimistic fraud proofs, zk validity proofs and why data availability, via danksharding blobs, limits rollup throughput.ExplainerEthereumL1/L2ZK14 likes

12 May 2022Metis bull case: sequencer rotation, native DA and low feesArgues for Metis as an optimistic rollup with rotating sequencers, EVM equivalence, a native storage and data availability layer, and the lowest tx cost among Ethereum L2s. Cites its rank as 5th largest L2 by TVL.ThesisL1/L2Ethereum3 likes

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Optimism61 Base28 zkSync41 Polygon29 Starknet39 Celestia145 Metis14 Mantle18

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