The vision of Ethereum has never changed - to build an open, transparent, and decentralized global computing platform. However, as the number of users and on-chain activities continues to grow, the performance bottlenecks of the Ethereum mainnet have become increasingly prominent. High gas fees and low throughput have long been points of complaint for users, leading to the emergence of Layer 2 (L2), aimed at improving scalability and efficiency by processing transactions outside the mainnet, becoming a necessary path for expansion.
However, the L2 track has not been smooth sailing; whether it be technical bottlenecks, user experience, or ecological construction, many issues have become 'pain points' for community discussion. Among numerous L2 projects, Arbitrum has weathered storms and, through resilient development and a clear strategy, has gradually grown into an indispensable part of the L2 track. This article will discuss Arbitrum's development history, the setbacks it encountered, and the prosperity of its modern ecosystem, exploring its contributions and significance to the scalability of the Ethereum mainnet.
1. The Birth of Arbitrum: Born out of the need for scalability
The prosperity of Ethereum has led to an explosion in fields such as DeFi, NFTs, and GameFi, but congestion on the mainnet and high costs deter ordinary users. In 2018, the Offchain Labs team founded Arbitrum, aiming to provide an efficient and low-cost scaling solution for Ethereum through Optimistic Rollup technology. The core idea of Optimistic Rollup is to move most of the computation and storage off-chain, only submitting the final state of the transactions to the Ethereum mainnet, thus significantly reducing costs while maintaining security.
The early development of Arbitrum was not easy. As an emerging technology, Optimistic Rollup has a beautiful theory but is filled with challenges in practice. Firstly, the technical implementation needs to balance security and efficiency, such as how to efficiently verify transactions off-chain while ensuring that user funds are not compromised by malicious activities. Secondly, compatibility with the Ethereum mainnet is also a major challenge; Arbitrum needs to seamlessly support Ethereum's smart contracts and EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) to attract developers to migrate. Additionally, competition in the L2 track is exceptionally fierce, with projects like Optimism and zkSync equally ambitious, requiring Arbitrum to find differentiated advantages in technology and ecology.
2. Growing Pains: Technical and Ecological Setbacks
The development journey of Arbitrum has not been a smooth road; technical bottlenecks and inadequate user experiences have become focal points of community complaints.
In the early days, Arbitrum's Optimistic Rollup mechanism sparked controversy due to its 'challenge period' design. To ensure the security of off-chain transactions, Arbitrum requires that transactions wait for a 7-day challenge period after submission to the mainnet to allow for potential fraud proofs. This means that users must wait up to a week when withdrawing funds from L2 to L1, severely affecting liquidity and user experience. In contrast, some competitors (like zkSync) that focus on zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology theoretically do not require such a long waiting time, putting Arbitrum at a slight disadvantage in early competition.
Ecological construction is the core of L2 success, but Arbitrum faced the challenge of developer migration in its early days. With the Ethereum mainnet already having mature DeFi protocols (like Uniswap, Aave) and a user base, developers were cautious about migrating to L2. Arbitrum needed to provide sufficient incentives and tool support, such as cross-chain bridges, development frameworks, and funding support; however, these infrastructures were not yet complete in the early days, leading to slow ecological development.
In 2023, the governance turmoil of Arbitrum further exposed the growing pains of its development. The Arbitrum Foundation attempted to use a large number of ARB tokens for operations through proposals, but due to a lack of sufficient community discussion, it sparked controversy and was criticized for 'centralized decision-making'. Although the foundation ultimately compromised and adjusted its proposal, this turmoil raised doubts in the community about Arbitrum's level of decentralization and sounded the alarm for its subsequent governance optimization.
3. Forge Ahead: Arbitrum's Breakthrough and Prosperity
Despite numerous difficulties, Arbitrum has not stopped, but instead gradually turned the situation around through technological iterations, ecological incentives, and community building, growing into a leader in the L2 track.
1. From One to Orbit: A Technological Upgrade
Arbitrum continuously optimizes its tech stack, launching the Arbitrum Nitro upgrade, which significantly improves transaction throughput and reduces gas fees. Nitro enhances network performance to near theoretical limits through improved data compression and execution engines. Additionally, Arbitrum has introduced AnyTrust technology, which further reduces costs by incorporating trust assumptions, suitable for scenarios with slightly lower security requirements. The launch of Arbitrum Orbit in 2023 marks a further expansion of its technological vision. Orbit allows developers to customize their own L2 or L3 chains based on Arbitrum's tech stack, inheriting Ethereum's security while flexibly meeting specific application needs. This innovation transforms Arbitrum from a single L2 network into a multi-layered scalable ecosystem, attracting more project attention.
2. The Explosion of DeFi and GameFi
Arbitrum's ecological construction saw explosive growth after 2022. Through integration with leading DeFi protocols such as Uniswap, SushiSwap, and GMX, Arbitrum has become the preferred network for DeFi users seeking low-cost transactions. Data shows that as of June 2025, Arbitrum's TVL (Total Value Locked) has remained at the forefront of the L2 track, second only to a few established projects. Additionally, the rise of GameFi and NFTs further enriched Arbitrum's ecosystem. Thanks to low gas fees and quick confirmations, Arbitrum has become the ideal platform for blockchain games and NFT projects. For example, native projects like Treasure DAO have built a complete gaming economic system on Arbitrum, attracting a large number of players and investors.
3. Governance optimization and community empowerment
To address early governance controversies, Arbitrum continues to promote the process of decentralization. The airdrop of ARB tokens and the improvement of the DAO governance mechanism have given the community more say in network upgrades and funding allocations. Arbitrum also provides funding support for developers through its Grants program, incentivizing more innovative projects to join the ecosystem.
4. Fulfilling the Mission: Arbitrum Becomes the Pillar and Future of L2
Arbitrum's rise not only marks its technological and ecological success but also provides crucial support for the scalability of the Ethereum mainnet.
Alleviating Mainnet Pressure: Arbitrum uses Rollup technology to move a large number of transactions off-chain, significantly reducing congestion and high gas fee issues on the Ethereum mainnet.
Rich application scenarios: Arbitrum's low costs and high efficiency provide fertile ground for DeFi, GameFi, and social applications, indirectly enhancing the overall attractiveness of Ethereum.
Promoting a layered architecture: Innovations like Arbitrum Orbit provide an example of modular expansion for Ethereum, indicating a trend of collaborative development between L1 and L2/L3 in the future.
The growth history of Arbitrum is a microcosm of the entire ETH L2 track. It has gone through skepticism, iteration, explosion, and now stability. Behind every technological evolution are the collective efforts of countless developers and users. The future of Layer 2 will not have only one winner, but Arbitrum's position has proven that only projects that truly understand the spirit of Ethereum and walk alongside its builders can stand firm in the new order.
The success of Arbitrum does not signify the end of the L2 track; in the future, with the evolution of blockchain technology, Arbitrum's journey will continue, and its experiences through storms will forever be a significant chapter in the history of Ethereum's ecological development.
Finally, I highly appreciate the Offchain Labs team, whose fearless spirit of innovation and resilient execution have written a legendary story of transformation from skepticism to reliance. Facing technical bottlenecks, ecological challenges, and community controversies, they have persevered, step by step, refining Arbitrum from obscurity in its early days to a pillar of the Ethereum L2 track.
