Arbitrum Seeks Fresh Operating Budget Through 2027 as DAO Income Trails Spending

Arbitrum has filed a new governance proposal seeking additional operating capital to fund the Arbitrum Foundation through 2027, CoinDesk reported. The move comes as on-chain activity continues to expand—including growth in transactions, stablecoin balances and real-world assets (RWA)—while the DAO’s revenue base still does not fully cover ecosystem outlays, keeping the question of Layer 2 financial self-sufficiency in focus. The request totals $16 million in RWA and stablecoins, 1,740 ETH and 230 million ARB. The foundation said the funds would be allocated to technology infrastructure, ecosystem growth, strategic partnerships, governance operations and coordination of ecosystem development. According to the proposal, Arbitrum generated about $23.49 million in gross revenue in 2025 from transaction fees, Timeboost and the Arbitrum Expansion Program. As of February 2026, the network was processing more than 4.7 million transactions per day, with a stablecoin supply of $8.6 billion and RWA holdings nearing $800 million. Even so, the size of the new funding request remains well above the DAO’s current annual revenue capacity. Crypto analyst Ignas said the foundation’s ask is roughly 2.3 times the DAO’s disclosed annual revenue, a gap that is prompting investors to reassess how quickly Layer 2 networks can shift from treasury support to operating self-sufficiency. The proposal shows technology spending as the largest cost line. Technology-related expenses are projected to represent about 54% of operating costs in 2027, covering infrastructure, custody, security, audits, developer tooling, block explorers and external technical support needed to keep the network running. The foundation estimates technology costs at roughly $14.8 million in 2027. The document also notes that Arbitrum has trimmed certain marketing outlays and optimized infrastructure costs even as activity has increased, framing the broader spend as investment in long-term expansion. It describes a revenue loop in which ecosystem growth drives network usage, usage lifts DAO revenue and that revenue is reinvested into further growth. Under this structure, the foundation operates as a cost center on behalf of the DAO, while protocol revenues flow directly into the treasury. Arbitrum reiterated that its long-term objective is to expand durable revenue sources, including transaction fees, Timeboost, RWA and new ecosystem initiatives. The debate, the proposal suggests, is less about whether the network is growing and more about the timing: revenue ramp-up has not yet caught up with the cost of ecosystem development and ongoing technical maintenance.