Arbitrum

**Deadstock and JTCC are launching an onchain trading card marketplace on Arbitrum**, bringing millions of authenticated graded cards into the programmable economy. **Key features:** - Globally accessible market for physical trading cards - Instant trading capabilities - Integration with Arbitrum's Layer 2 infrastructure The platform aims to bridge traditional collectibles with blockchain technology, making graded cards tradable onchain. A waitlist is now open for early access.

Arbitrum is positioning itself as the primary settlement layer for stablecoins in the programmable economy. The platform now hosts **$7.8 billion in stablecoins** across **7.75 million holders**, supporting trading, lending, payments, and global value transfer. Recent developments include: - **Mastercard** leveraging Arbitrum for global stablecoin settlement and programmable payments - **Variational** bringing private market assets (SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic) onchain for trading - **Ostium** building commodities and equity markets with self-custody and instant settlement - **Theo Network** launching institutional-grade products (thBILL, thUSD, thGOLD) for Treasuries, stablecoins, and gold The platform's infrastructure offers deep liquidity, low-cost performance, and 24/7 verifiable settlement - enabling traditional financial markets to operate at software speed. Learn more about Arbitrum's stablecoin settlement strategy: [blog.arbitrum.io/settlement-layer-stablecoins](https://blog.arbitrum.io/settlement-layer-stablecoins/)

The Arbitrum Foundation has been working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) over the past year to explore blockchain's potential in public-sector innovation and digital governance. The **Blockchain Advisory Group** has now officially launched, with Arbitrum Foundation continuing its involvement in shaping these discussions. This follows a UNDP report from March 2026 that examined how blockchain technology can support public systems and government infrastructure. The collaboration represents a significant step in bringing blockchain solutions to international development and governance frameworks.

**Arbitrum Foundation announces Founder House**, a three-day in-person program in London (July 10-12) designed to help early-stage teams build on the Arbitrum Platform. **What founders get:** - Opportunity to compete for **$300K in prizes and grants** - Infrastructure, product, and go-to-market support - Mentorship from Robinhood Chain, AWS, Offchain Labs, and industry leaders **Focus areas include:** - Programmable payments - Real World Assets (RWAs) - DeFi - AI - Privacy solutions - Consumer applications The initiative highlights Arbitrum's commitment to supporting founders building in the "programmable economy." Teams like [@bondoncredit](https://twitter.com/bondoncredit) are already participating in the accelerator program. **Applications are now open** at [luma.com/openhouse-london](http://luma.com/openhouse-london?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=oh-london-founder-house)

**USDAI has closed a record-breaking $98.1M loan**, marking a significant milestone in compute-backed credit. **Key developments:** - GPUs are now being used as programmable collateral for onchain loans - USDAI has over $100M in active loans backed by GPU assets - Arbitrum's infrastructure is enabling compute markets to scale efficiently **Why it matters:** This represents a new category of decentralized finance where physical compute resources (GPUs) can be leveraged as collateral for instant credit. As AI and compute demand grows globally, businesses need fast access to capital without selling their hardware assets. Arbitrum's predictable costs and deep liquidity are making it the preferred platform for these emerging compute-backed financial products.

**PayAI Network** has deployed its **x402 facilitator** on Arbitrum, enabling AI agents to operate autonomously in the emerging agentic economy. **Key capabilities:** - AI agents can coordinate and transact independently - Monetize services without human intervention - Access deep liquidity pools - Benefit from predictable transaction costs The x402 facilitator represents infrastructure for programmable transactions, allowing AI agents and applications to exchange value directly on Arbitrum's Layer 2 network. This development builds on the growing trend of autonomous economic systems where software agents can participate as independent economic actors. The integration leverages Arbitrum's scaling advantages to provide the throughput and cost efficiency needed for high-frequency agent-to-agent transactions.

Mastercard has selected Arbitrum as its blockchain infrastructure for global stablecoin settlement operations. The partnership enables **programmable payments** and **onchain settlement** capabilities, allowing for always-on payment processing. This integration represents a significant step in bringing traditional financial infrastructure into the blockchain ecosystem. Key features include: - 24/7 payment availability - Programmable economy integration - Global stablecoin settlement infrastructure The collaboration positions Arbitrum as a critical layer-2 solution for enterprise-grade financial applications. Read the full technical details: [Mastercard Stablecoin Settlement](https://blog.arbitrum.io/mastercard-stablecoin-settlement/)

The Arbitrum Foundation's **Open House London Buildathon** begins tomorrow, offering a 3-week online program for early-stage teams building onchain products. **Program Support:** - Technical guidance from [Robinhood](http://openhouse.arbitrum.io/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=oh-london-buildathon), Alchemy, GMX, OpenZeppelin, and Offchain - Product development workshops - Infrastructure readiness training - Access to industry leaders in the Arbitrum ecosystem **Prizes & Opportunities:** - $115K in prizes - Top teams advance to an in-person Founder House accelerator in London - Focus areas include payments, DeFi, RWAs, privacy, AI agents, and consumer applications The program is open to teams worldwide looking to launch products on the Arbitrum Platform. Registration remains open at [openhouse.arbitrum.io](http://openhouse.arbitrum.io/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=oh-london-buildathon).

Arbitrum is actively looking for early-stage teams to build onchain startups. The Layer 2 scaling solution is encouraging founders with new ideas to develop on their platform. The initiative appears to be part of Arbitrum's ongoing effort to support pre-mainnet projects and teams bringing fresh concepts to the blockchain space. For more information, teams can check the [official announcement](https://x.com/arbitrum/status/2056834995122229739?s=20).

Arbitrum has launched **Earn** on its Portal, a new feature that simplifies access to onchain yield opportunities. **Key Features:** - Cross-chain token swaps powered by [LI.FI Protocol](https://lifi.tech) - Unified vault management interface - Portfolio tracking capabilities - Integration with major DeFi protocols including Aave, Morpho, and Pendle **Infrastructure Partnership:** Arbitrum partnered with [Vaults.fyi](https://vaults.fyi) as their core infrastructure provider. The platform handles data aggregation, transaction processing, and portfolio tracking for the Earn feature. Users can now access yield opportunities across multiple chains through a single interface at [portal.arbitrum.io/earn](https://portal.arbitrum.io/earn). More details available in the [official blog post](https://blog.arbitrum.io/portal-earn/).