Arbitrum DAO's Massive Gaming Bet Heading for Approval

The Arbitrum DAO, which stewards governance for Ethereum’s largest layer 2, is considering a proposal to allocate 225M ARB towards bolstering the ecosystem’s gaming sector.

What’s the scoop?

• Long Term Commitment: Funding only requires one-time approval, but the Program is expected to last for three years in duration. The majority of ARB tokens (135M) are earmarked for direct investment, with a further 40M allocated for infrastructure bounties, 25M to be distributed via grants, and the remaining 25M to fund the program’s administration.
• Big Ambitions: The Proposal aims to make Arbitrum the de facto destination for onchain gaming, with stated objectives to spawn the creation of 400-600 applications, fund 100-200 games, result in 50+ new Orbit L3 launches, and cause projects to migrate to Arbitrum in favor of alternative chains.
• Major DAO Support: While voting will be ongoing until next Friday (June 10), 82% of voters are currently in support of the Proposal. It has received “yes” votes from all of the DAO’s largest delegates, including Treasure, Olimpio, L2BEAT, Gauntlet, Wintermute, and MUX Perpetuals.

Bankless Take:

While the Measure may appear heavily favored at first glance, the vote has been significantly influenced by the support of giga-delegates, some of whom have clear conflicts of interest with the broader Arbitrum ecosystem.

Although allocating funds to economically productive activities could positively impact the Arbitrum ecosystem, there are valid concerns that mass gaming stimulus is not the best use of DAO funds and could negatively affect token price.

Crypto gaming remains largely unproven; despite billions of dollars invested, no breakout concepts have achieved sustainable adoption. This suggests a more measured deployment of funds would be prudent if the Arbitrum DAO genuinely intends to pursue this pathway.