While Optimism was the first TGE L2, Arbitrum was the true pioneer of the L2 wave. Back in the first half of 2023, Korean whales were live-streaming contract trading on GMX, DeFi Degens were using GLP Lego-like Yield Farming, and grassroots communities were banding together to hype up ancient cat and dog meme coins. Arbitrum was one of the most eye-catching sectors in the spring of 2023. However, this flourishing ecosystem came to a somber end after the epic TGE and airdrop of Arbitrum's native token ARB. Looking back from November 2025, there are three main reasons for this situation: --The huge positive externalities generated by Arbitrum's epic airdrop were seized by competitors ZkSync, Starknet, and Linea; --At that time, the core business model of the King-level L2 was not natural and organic, nor was it benign and self-sustaining. Instead, it relied heavily on the false prosperity created by the industrialization of airdropped farmers. --The airdrops allocated too much to ecosystem developers, most of whom were well-disguised as high-level airdrop farmers. After receiving the airdrops, most of these developers remained passive, while some used their large amounts of ARB to vote for more ARB in DAO governance. The best solution to these problems is time. After nearly 30 months of development, the Arbitrum Foundation believes the time is ripe and has launched the DeFi Renaissance Incentive Program (DRIP) to revitalize the Arbitrum ecosystem. Arbitrum Foundation's first move was to leverage the ARB incentives from the first quarter of DRIP to subsidize the yields of DeFi lending protocols (Aave, Morpho, Fluid, Euler, Dolomite, Silo, etc.) in the ecosystem, attracting on-chain users with real money. According to data from the Dune dashboard (https://dune.com/entropy_advisors/drip-season-1-lending-protocols), DRIP boosted the total amount of lendable funds in DeFi from $1.38B to $1.67B in the first quarter, and the loan balance from $967.52M to $1.17B. However, among the L2 market share of the aforementioned DeFi lending protocols, Arbitrum's market share only increased from 3.09% to 3.75%. In contrast, Base's market share increased from 5.04% to 6.64% during the same period. This shows that, in terms of the appeal of on-chain DeFi lending platforms like Degen, real cash subsidies are still somewhat less attractive than the expectation of airdrops with the potential for explosive growth. The Arbitrum Foundation's second arrow is to incubate new, ecosystem-coupled PerpDEX Variational Protocol and Ethereal Perps. Arbitrum has a close relationship with Hyperliquid on PerpDEX, similar to the Anglo-American relationship. Hyperliquid has bridged $4.59 billion USDC into Arbitrum, accounting for 69.08% of Arbitrum's total USDC supply. However, the $4.59 billion USDC only contributes to Arbitrum's revenue in the form of transfer gas fees; the generation of other high-value revenue and positive externalities is captured by Hyperliquid. In this new environment where PerpDEX reigns supreme, the Arbitrum ecosystem needs its own PerpDEX. The Variational Protocol's OLP mechanism has the potential to recreate the glory of GLP, once dominated by GMX. Arbitrum Foundation's third arrow is its deep integration with Robinhood to aggressively promote the tokenization of US stocks. Currently, Arbitrum's RWA assets total $1,026.53 million, primarily composed of tokenized US Treasury bonds, tokenized European debt, and tokenized US stocks (EXOD). There are 615 RWA assets, mainly tokenized US stocks issued by Robinhood. Due to current regulatory restrictions, the structure of tokenized US stocks consists of off-chain SPV custody and CEX/DEX liquidity pools. This leads to issues such as insufficient liquidity, unclear legal status, and reliance on centralized entities for clearing and settlement at this stage. But whether it's Arbitrum x Robinhood's rapid push for tokenization of US stocks or Solana's new ICM narrative, they both point to a future vision set by SEC Project Crypto: the complete blockchainization of global financial infrastructure. In summary, the Arbitrum Foundation's three arrows—the DRIP program, the incubation of Variational, and betting on the tokenization of US stocks—are both focused on the present and aimed at the future. The Arbitrum Foundation is really up to something this time.While Optimism was the first TGE L2, Arbitrum was the true pioneer of the L2 wave. Back in the first half of 2023, Korean whales were live-streaming contract trading on GMX, DeFi Degens were using GLP Lego-like Yield Farming, and grassroots communities were banding together to hype up ancient cat and dog meme coins. Arbitrum was one of the most eye-catching sectors in the spring of 2023. However, this flourishing ecosystem came to a somber end after the epic TGE and airdrop of Arbitrum's native token ARB. Looking back from November 2025, there are three main reasons for this situation: --The huge positive externalities generated by Arbitrum's epic airdrop were seized by competitors ZkSync, Starknet, and Linea; --At that time, the core business model of the King-level L2 was not natural and organic, nor was it benign and self-sustaining. Instead, it relied heavily on the false prosperity created by the industrialization of airdropped farmers. --The airdrops allocated too much to ecosystem developers, most of whom were well-disguised as high-level airdrop farmers. After receiving the airdrops, most of these developers remained passive, while some used their large amounts of ARB to vote for more ARB in DAO governance. The best solution to these problems is time. After nearly 30 months of development, the Arbitrum Foundation believes the time is ripe and has launched the DeFi Renaissance Incentive Program (DRIP) to revitalize the Arbitrum ecosystem. Arbitrum Foundation's first move was to leverage the ARB incentives from the first quarter of DRIP to subsidize the yields of DeFi lending protocols (Aave, Morpho, Fluid, Euler, Dolomite, Silo, etc.) in the ecosystem, attracting on-chain users with real money. According to data from the Dune dashboard (https://dune.com/entropy_advisors/drip-season-1-lending-protocols), DRIP boosted the total amount of lendable funds in DeFi from $1.38B to $1.67B in the first quarter, and the loan balance from $967.52M to $1.17B. However, among the L2 market share of the aforementioned DeFi lending protocols, Arbitrum's market share only increased from 3.09% to 3.75%. In contrast, Base's market share increased from 5.04% to 6.64% during the same period. This shows that, in terms of the appeal of on-chain DeFi lending platforms like Degen, real cash subsidies are still somewhat less attractive than the expectation of airdrops with the potential for explosive growth. The Arbitrum Foundation's second arrow is to incubate new, ecosystem-coupled PerpDEX Variational Protocol and Ethereal Perps. Arbitrum has a close relationship with Hyperliquid on PerpDEX, similar to the Anglo-American relationship. Hyperliquid has bridged $4.59 billion USDC into Arbitrum, accounting for 69.08% of Arbitrum's total USDC supply. However, the $4.59 billion USDC only contributes to Arbitrum's revenue in the form of transfer gas fees; the generation of other high-value revenue and positive externalities is captured by Hyperliquid. In this new environment where PerpDEX reigns supreme, the Arbitrum ecosystem needs its own PerpDEX. The Variational Protocol's OLP mechanism has the potential to recreate the glory of GLP, once dominated by GMX. Arbitrum Foundation's third arrow is its deep integration with Robinhood to aggressively promote the tokenization of US stocks. Currently, Arbitrum's RWA assets total $1,026.53 million, primarily composed of tokenized US Treasury bonds, tokenized European debt, and tokenized US stocks (EXOD). There are 615 RWA assets, mainly tokenized US stocks issued by Robinhood. Due to current regulatory restrictions, the structure of tokenized US stocks consists of off-chain SPV custody and CEX/DEX liquidity pools. This leads to issues such as insufficient liquidity, unclear legal status, and reliance on centralized entities for clearing and settlement at this stage. But whether it's Arbitrum x Robinhood's rapid push for tokenization of US stocks or Solana's new ICM narrative, they both point to a future vision set by SEC Project Crypto: the complete blockchainization of global financial infrastructure. In summary, the Arbitrum Foundation's three arrows—the DRIP program, the incubation of Variational, and betting on the tokenization of US stocks—are both focused on the present and aimed at the future. The Arbitrum Foundation is really up to something this time.

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