Arbitrum

The fifth episode of Arbitrum's ongoing series features Ethereum researcher Ryan Berckmans examining how Arbitrum serves as a platform for businesses looking to scale on-chain. **Series Context:** - Previous episodes covered Arbitrum's role in Ethereum's scaling roadmap and institutional adoption - Episode 4 featured The Daily Gwei founder discussing upcoming Ethereum upgrades - Episode 3 highlighted Offchain's CEO on institutional trust and platforms like Robinhood The series continues to position Arbitrum as a key infrastructure layer for Ethereum scaling solutions.

Arbitrum positions itself as the infrastructure backbone for scaling AI agents, emphasizing three core capabilities: - **Deep liquidity** for seamless transactions - **Cheap execution** to minimize operational costs - **Reliable infrastructure** for consistent performance The platform points to Sail.Money as an example, noting the project is approaching $100M in autonomous trading volume. This follows Arbitrum's recent messaging about enabling institutions to build custom capital markets while maintaining access to shared liquidity pools. The focus on AI agents reflects growing interest in autonomous on-chain systems that require robust, cost-effective infrastructure to operate at scale.

**Arbitrum's NYC Founder House has wrapped up**, with over 80 teams competing for $340K in prizes and grants. The three-day event focused on helping founders build and launch on the Arbitrum platform with support from Robinhood Chain and the broader ecosystem. **Key highlights:** - Teams received hands-on mentorship on product development, infrastructure, and go-to-market strategy - Winners from the event receive invites to the Arbitrum Mentorship Program - The program emphasized bringing innovations onchain with technical readiness and execution support **What's next:** The [Arbitrum Mentorship Program](https://blog.arbitrum.foundation/introducing-the-arbitrum-mentorship-program-access-capital-and-strategic-support/) applications close April 7th. The 8-week program offers 15 teams access to top crypto VCs, up to $100K in rewards, and structured support from ecosystem leaders. [Read the full recap](https://blog.arbitrum.foundation/nyc-founder-house-concludes-with-340k-in-awards-to-winning-teams/)

**Arbitrum positions itself as a plug-and-play solution for businesses** entering blockchain markets. Rather than building from scratch, companies can immediately access: - Existing liquidity pools - Established user bases - Mature financial infrastructure This approach allows businesses to **launch programmable economies faster** by leveraging Arbitrum's existing ecosystem. The platform's recent performance data shows practical advantages during high-demand periods, with Dynamic Pricing reducing fee spikes by up to 98% while maintaining predictable costs for business planning.

EdgeX Exchange has launched **EDGE Chain**, a new Layer 2 solution built on Arbitrum's platform. The project introduces an all-in-one mobile trading application that combines multiple asset classes into a single interface. **Key Features:** - Supports crypto perpetuals, stocks, commodities, and prediction markets - Built on Arbitrum for predictable, low-latency execution - Access to deep, shared liquidity across the Arbitrum ecosystem - Independent, customizable infrastructure designed to scale The platform aims to enable **24/7 finance** by leveraging Arbitrum's technology stack. EdgeX selected Arbitrum for the same technical advantages that attract other sophisticated financial products to the platform. Read the full announcement: [EdgeX Announces EDGE Chain on Arbitrum](https://blog.arbitrum.io/edgex-announces-edge-chain-on-arbitrum/)

Arbitrum's new dynamic pricing system delivered significant results during a recent high-demand period across major networks. **Key Performance Metrics:** - Reduced fee spikes by up to 98% - Handled 2.4x more demand than competitors - Achieved 15% lower fees overall - Delivered ~17x less fee volatility The improvements came after the ArbOS Dia upgrade, which introduced a more sophisticated pricing model that tracks real network bottlenecks instead of relying on a single gas number. **Why It Matters:** Predictable fees enable businesses to forecast costs accurately, manage risk effectively, and scale operations reliably. This stability is crucial for programmable economies operating onchain. The system measures compute, storage, and history growth to create sustainable scaling without traditional surge pricing. [Read the full analysis](https://blog.arbitrum.io/predictability-at-peak-demand/)

Arbitrum Foundation is hosting an **in-person Open House in New York City** from March 6-8, 2026. This selective 3-day program targets founders ready to deploy on-chain applications. **What founders get:** - Direct collaboration with Arbitrum teams and ecosystem builders - Product feedback and technical guidance - Hands-on support for shipping projects This follows their online Buildathon that started January 29, which offered workshops, mentorship, and $60k in prizes. The NYC event is more exclusive and focused on teams closer to launch. Applications are open now at [luma.com/openhouse-newyork](https://luma.com/openhouse-newyork?utm_campaign=oh-nyc-founder-house&utm_content=sponsor-fh&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter).

Variational has become one of the leading perpetual trading platforms on Arbitrum, processing over **$136 billion in total trading volume** with **$1.09 billion in open interest** across hundreds of markets. The platform's growth demonstrates how Arbitrum's infrastructure - including fast confirmations, deep liquidity, and predictable costs - enables decentralized perpetual exchanges to compete with centralized platforms. Variational has maintained an average of **22,000+ weekly users** since launch, leveraging Arbitrum's scaling capacity to deliver exchange-level performance for on-chain derivatives trading.

A $3 million transaction settled on Arbitrum in seconds with total gas costs under $25, demonstrating the network's enterprise-grade capabilities. **Key Performance Metrics:** - Settlement time: ~250 milliseconds - Transaction cost: <$25 (compared to ~$20 for legacy wire transfers that take hours or days) - Zero platform fees for users The transaction showcases Arbitrum's infrastructure scaling with both transaction size and volume. The network currently supports: - $7.8B+ in stablecoin market cap - $74B+ in 30-day transfer volume - 7.75M+ stablecoin holders Platforms like Rise Pay have processed $340M+ in lifetime USDC/USDT withdrawals on Arbitrum, utilizing programmable payment flows for lending, trading, collateral, and settlement operations. The demonstration proves that blockchain-based payment rails can handle institutional-scale transactions with predictable costs and near-instant settlement times.

Rise, a global payments platform, has processed over **$340 million in lifetime USDC and USDT withdrawals** on Arbitrum, demonstrating the network's viability as a payment rail. The platform leverages Arbitrum's infrastructure to offer: - **Zero transaction fees** for users - **~250 millisecond settlement times** (compared to hours or days for traditional wire transfers) - **Programmable payment flows** for automation Traditional wire transfers typically cost around $20 per transaction and can take hours to days to settle. By using Arbitrum as its underlying infrastructure, Rise eliminates these friction points while maintaining the security and reliability needed for financial transactions. The integration showcases how Layer 2 solutions are moving beyond speculation into practical, high-volume payment applications. The combination of near-instant settlement, negligible costs, and programmability positions blockchain infrastructure as a competitive alternative to legacy payment systems. [Read the full technical details](https://blog.arbitrum.io/rise-global-payments/)