Members of the Arbitrum community are celebrating reaching an all-time high in total value locked (TVL). However, this achievement is overshadowed by criticisms regarding the effectiveness of incentive programs aimed at revitalizing the network’s ecosystem activities.
Arbitrum’s TVL Reaches New Heights
According to research platform L2Beat, Arbitrum’s TVL surged by approximately 67% over a month, reaching $21 billion. This milestone marks a significant point for this layer 2 solution that launched in 2021. However, it is noted that many major protocols supporting this TVL increase have also experienced similar growth on networks outside of Arbitrum.
Interestingly, some incentive-receiving protocols are facing declines in TVL. This situation has led to increasing skepticism regarding the effectiveness of current incentive programs. Observers believe this growth is largely tied to Arbitrum’s natural development and market conditions.
Incentive Programs Face Criticism and Calls for Restructuring
In September 2023, the Arbitrum DAO governance approved a $56 million incentive program for distributing ARB tokens to active protocols. A long-term initiative aiming to allocate 45 million ARB tokens to previously unfunded projects is set to launch in January 2024. However, experts share concerns that these programs lack concrete successful targets.
“It was difficult to measure the impact of incentives because specific targets were not established,” stated Krzysztof Kaczor, a delegate from L2Beat and Arbitrum. The IOSG Ventures team criticized the existing structure, emphasizing the need for restructuring the incentives.
The new proposal suggests adopting a results-oriented framework and distributing rewards more towards liquidity providers. It is suggested that these changes would increase Arbitrum’s liquidity, enhance developer attractiveness, and establish a foundation in DeFi verticals. Arbitrum delegate Joseph Schiarizzi stated that incentives for users providing the most value will double, asserting that new strategies will reshape competition.
The Arbitrum ecosystem is taking steps to maintain continuous TVL growth supported by fairer incentive structures. The new proposals appear to be shaping a user-centric ecosystem.
