Arbitrum, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling system that leverages Optimistic Rollups technology for faster and cheaper transactions, is experiencing a surge in activity in anticipation of the ARB token airdrop scheduled for Thursday. According to data source Arbiscan, the system achieved a new record high of 1,312,052 daily transactions on Wednesday, exceeding the previous peak of 1,103,398 on February 21. In contrast, the Ethereum mainnet processed roughly 1.08 million transactions.
Since announcing the airdrop a week ago, Arbitrum’s tally has increased by more than 50%. The project has attracted over 400,000 new users in the last two weeks, bringing the cumulative user base to more than 3 million, according to data sourced from @Henrystats’ Dune Analytics-based Arbitrum dashboard. In anticipation of the token airdrop, the number of new users and active addresses has surged. Approximately 625,000 wallets are eligible for the airdrop, which involves the free distribution of just over 1 billion ARB tokens later on Thursday.
According to Delphi Digital, “Arbitrum is decentralizing by launching its governance token ARB to transition towards self-executing DAO governance…12.75% of its supply or 1.275 billion tokens will be distributed to Arbitrum community members and DAOs in the Arbitrum ecosystem.” Free token distributions to the community through airdrops are a popular strategy for increasing adoption, and ARB’s total supply will be fixed at 10 billion. As of press time, IOU markets linked to ARB indicated that the token could trade at around $6 following the airdrop. IOUs are tokens representing debt between two parties.