TL;DR
- Strategic Incentives: Arbitrum launches Season One of DRIP, allocating $12M in ARB rewards to boost targeted lending and borrowing strategies, aiming for sustainable DeFi growth.
- Four-Season Plan: The $40M program spans four themed seasons, each focusing on a distinct DeFi vertical and adapting based on performance data.
- Ecosystem Momentum: TVL has risen 66% to $3.5B, with $100B DEX volume reinforcing Arbitrum’s expanding market position.
Arbitrum has officially kicked off “Season One” of its DeFi Renaissance Incentive Program (DRIP), a targeted initiative designed to accelerate innovation and liquidity across its Layer 2 ecosystem. Rather than rewarding individual protocols, DRIP focuses on specific assets and strategies, aiming to create sustainable growth and long-term structural improvements in decentralized finance activity on the network.
Introducing DRIP – The DeFi Renaissance Incentive Program!
A huge DeFi program that rewards real DeFi actions on Arbitrum, starting with Season 1: Leverage Looping Strategy
💧 Deposit ETH/stables
💧 Borrow & loop
💧 RepeatJoin the Renaissance now 👇https://t.co/dIQYRL2B3g pic.twitter.com/IvjoD9IXOE
— Arbitrum (@arbitrum) September 3, 2025
Targeted Rewards for Strategic Growth
Season One sets aside as many as 24 million ARB tokens, which are worth almost $12 million at today’s prices, to encourage leveraged looping strategies for yield-generating Ethereum tokens and stablecoins. Rewards will be distributed across select lending and borrowing platforms, including Aave, Morpho, Fluid, Euler, Dolomite, and Silo.
Eligible collateral types range from liquid staking derivatives like weETH and wstETH to synthetic stable assets such as sUSDC, sUSDS, and USDe. By concentrating incentives on curated strategies, Arbitrum aims to boost liquidity while ensuring that growth is both measurable and lasting.
A Four-Season Framework
The DRIP initiative is structured as a four-season program, with approximately 80 million ARB tokens, worth over $40 million, earmarked for distribution over its full run. Each season will span approximately four months and will concentrate on a distinct DeFi sector. While Season One centers on lending and borrowing strategies, future seasons may explore DEXs, real-world assets, and perpetual futures. The phased approach allows for iterative adjustments based on performance data and community feedback.
Measuring Impact and Efficiency
Entropy Advisors, co-founded by Matthew Fiebach, will oversee the program’s performance tracking. Metrics such as TVL per dollar spent and market share growth will be monitored, alongside qualitative indicators like new integrations and co-incentives. Public dashboards will provide transparency, enabling the community to follow progress in real time. This data-driven oversight is intended to ensure that incentives translate into meaningful ecosystem development rather than short-term capital inflows.
Momentum in the Arbitrum Ecosystem
The introduction of DRIP happens during a period of significant growth for Arbitrum. Since April, the network’s TVL has increased by almost 66%, rising from $2.1 billion to more than $3.5 billion. Decentralized exchanges on Arbitrum have processed more than $100 billion in cumulative volume during the same period. The incentive program positions Arbitrum to solidify its role as a leading Ethereum Layer 2 hub.
