Arbitrum has submitted a new governance proposal to request additional operating funds for the Arbitrum Foundation to cover 2027. Despite continued growth in network transactions, stablecoins, and RWA, current DAO revenue still does not cover ecosystem expenditures, making Layer 2 self-sufficiency a renewed focus of discussion.
The requested funding covers up to 2027.
The proposed funding includes $16 million in RWA and stablecoins, 1,740 ETH, and 230 million ARB. The foundation stated that the funds will be used for technological infrastructure, ecosystem growth, strategic partnerships, governance operations, and ecosystem development coordination.
DAO revenue still lags behind expenditure.
The documents show that Arbitrum generated approximately $23.49 million in gross profit in 2025 through transaction fees, Timeboost, and the Arbitrum Expansion Program. As of February 2026, the network had over 4.7 million daily transactions, a stablecoin supply of $8.6 billion, and RWA assets approaching $800 million.
However, the amount of funding requested this time is still significantly higher than the DAO's current annual revenue. Crypto analyst Ignas stated that the foundation's current funding request is approximately 2.3 times the DAO's disclosed annual revenue, prompting the market to re-evaluate the speed at which Layer 2 is transitioning from treasury support to financial self-sufficiency.
Technology costs account for the majority of operating costs
The proposal indicates that technology-related expenses are projected to account for approximately 54% of operating costs in 2027. These expenses include infrastructure, hosting, security, auditing, development tools, block explorers, and external technical support required to maintain network operation.
The foundation projects technology costs to be approximately $14.8 million in 2027. The proposal also states that despite increased online activity, Arbitrum has reduced some marketing spending and optimized infrastructure costs.
The foundation stated that the expenditures were for long-term expansion.
In its proposal, the foundation stated that the Arbitrum ecosystem has formed a revenue cycle: ecosystem expansion drives network activity, network activity increases DAO revenue, and the revenue is then reinvested in further expansion. The proposal defines the foundation as a cost center representing the DAO's operations, while protocol revenue goes directly into the treasury.
Arbitrum stated that its long-term goal remains expanding sustainable revenue streams to cover transaction fees, Timeboost, RWA, and new ecosystem business lines. The core of the current controversy is not whether growth exists, but rather that the rate of revenue generation has not kept pace with the costs of ecosystem development and technology maintenance.
