Arbitrum Launches Native Governance Token ARB and Self-Executing DAO Governance Model

The Ethereum layer two (L2) scaling solution Arbitrum has launched a native governance token named ARB and a self-executing decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governance model. The ARB token will have an initial supply of 10 billion, and coins will be airdropped to the Arbitrum DAO treasury, Offchain Labs (the company behind Arbitrum), Offchain Labs investors, users of the Arbitrum platform, and DAOs that are building with the L2 technology.

Arbitrum, the L2 scaling project, has announced the launch of a self-executing DAO governance model and a new governance token called ARB on March 16, 2023. “Today, the Arbitrum Foundation is extremely excited to announce the launch of DAO governance for the Arbitrum One and Arbitrum Nova networks, alongside the launch of ARB,” the team tweeted on Thursday. The ARB airdrop will be distributed to eligible Arbitrum ecosystem participants, and claiming begins on March 23.

There is an initial supply of 10 billion ARB tokens, and the system’s inflation rate will max at 2% per year, according to the “airdrop eligibility and distribution specifications” page. The ARB tokens will be distributed to early users and DAOs that have utilized the Arbitrum ecosystem before block height 58,642,080 on Arbitrum One, which occurred on Feb. 6, 2023. Arbitrum also noted that it believes the project is “leading the way as the first L2 to launch self-executing governance.”

The self-executing system means that the decentralized autonomous organization “votes about on-chain actions will directly have the power to effect and execute its on-chain decisions, without relying on an intermediary to carry out those decisions.” In addition to the governance system, Offchain Labs has revealed Arbitrum Orbit, a permissionless solution for any developer to build a layer three (L3) blockchain using Arbitrum technology, according to the firm’s press release.

Arbitrum is slightly late to the game in terms of L2s releasing native governance tokens, as Optimism revealed the optimism (OP) token launch in April 2022. Currently, OP is trading for $2.46 per unit, down more than 4% against the U.S. dollar over the last day. OP’s price today is 23.88% lower than the $3.22 all-time high OP achieved 20 days ago on Feb. 24, 2023.

The ARB airdrop announcement and eligibility qualifications further note that “a number of anti-Sybil rules were established” to combat bots from taking advantage of the ARB airdrop. The team also noted that the investor and team tokens are subject to four-year lockups, “with the first unlocks happening in one year and then monthly unlocks for the remaining three years.”

What are your thoughts on the launch of ARB and self-executing DAO governance on the Arbitrum L2 platform? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.