The Arbitrum Foundation has announced the launch of its new token under the ticker ARB, which will go live on March 23. With a $300 million ARB distribution, The ARB token will allow holders to vote on changes to the Ethereum layer 2 network. 

Arbitrum, the layer 2 blockchain protocol designed to increase scalability on the Ethereum blockchain, is taking steps in its transition as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). 

Launching a DAO governance will mark an achievement for the protocol in decentralizing the network, becoming the first Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) roll-up technology to accomplish decentralization.

A Transition To A DAO Governance

This move allows the Arbitrum One and Arbitrum Nova to function independently of centralized actors, allowing its community to decide the next steps on the network’s roadmap for upcoming events. 

According to the announcement, the protocol’s DAO can authorize additional Layer 2 chains on Ethereum, regardless of whether the ARB toke governs the chain. This mechanism will ensure that its community fully controls the network’s technology. 

In addition, the foundation has announced the launch of Orbit, which allows developers to deploy their permissionless layer 3 blockchains using the protocol’s technology and Ethereum’s security.

Arbitrum Orbit is designed to reinforce and grow the network’s ecosystem, develop new protocol applications, and launch new protocol chains. The Arbitrum DAO can issue even more permission-based licenses to its users, ensuring complete control over the protocol’s future.

Distribution of Arbitrum’s New Token ARB

The announcement states that most Arbitrum tokens will be distributed to over 12% of the community members. The Arbitrum Foundation and DAO will be tasked with distributing the additional tokens to the community over time. The Arbitrum Foundation added:

While the user and DAO airdrops will be available in one week, all investor and team tokens are subject to 4 year lockups, with the first unlocks happening in one year and then monthly unlocks for the remaining three years.

The protocol has recently surpassed the highest Total Value Locked (TVL) across all Layer 2 networks, with a TVL of $3.60 billion, up 9.37% in the last few days, and a market share of 55.87% among all rollups. The Foundation concluded:

Today’s launch is an important step to decentralize the network and put the community in control of Arbitrum’s ecosystem and technology. And if you’re a community member, there are now more ways than ever to get involved. 

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView.com