Arbitrum's Licensing Structure Secures Fees for L2 Chains

Arbitrum co-founder Steven Goldfeder designed a licensing structure that makes forking the code without paying up effectively pointless. The mechanism is called 'community source' licensing, which requires chains using Arbitrum's Orbit/Nitro stack but settling outside of Arbitrum One or Nova to send 10% of their net revenue back to the ecosystem.

Robinhood Chain, a dedicated Ethereum Layer 2 that settles directly to Ethereum rather than through Arbitrum One, launched its mainnet on July 1, 2026. In September 2026, Robinhood Chain posted record single-day fees of $3.75 million and contributed $360,000 to the Arbitrum DAO in July 2026 alone.

The arrangement exists because Goldfeder and Offchain Labs rejected fully permissive open-sourcing early on. This approach stands in contrast to the Optimism ecosystem, which has embraced more permissive licensing terms. The Arbitrum DAO treasury receives 8% of the revenue from chains like Robinhood's, giving ARB token holders a direct economic interest in their success.