WisdomTree values Arbitrum on revenue, not token hype

WisdomTree has published research valuing Arbitrum using a revenue-based approach, marking a broader shift in how some analysts assess digital asset networks.

The report outlines four revenue lines for Arbitrum and highlights licence income from Robinhood's blockchain alongside transaction fees, treasury income and a service called Timeboost. It says income in the first half reached USD $6.19 million, with a blended gross margin above 97 per cent.

The approach stands out because crypto research has often focused on token prices and market sentiment rather than business metrics. WisdomTree argues that digital asset networks are increasingly generating revenue streams that look more familiar to traditional analysts.

Arbitrum is built on top of Ethereum and processes transactions separately before posting a compressed record back to the main chain. The design is intended to reduce costs and increase speed for users while remaining compatible with Ethereum-based applications.

Revenue model

The research says ArbitrumDAO, governed by holders of the ARB token, receives income from four sources: transaction fees paid in Ether, auction proceeds from Timeboost, yield on treasury assets and licence fees from chains built on Arbitrum technology that settle directly to Ethereum.

Under that licensing model, operators of those chains pay 10 per cent of net revenue, with 8 per cent going to the DAO treasury and 2 per cent to the developers of the software stack. Robinhood Chain is the first project to pay under that structure, according to the report.

Robinhood Chain has paid USD $4.37 million in licence fees in the 10 weeks since launch, with about USD $3.5 million flowing to the DAO, the figures show. That means a single chain has generated more than half of what the organisation earned in the previous six months.

The report presents this as an important test of whether blockchain infrastructure can support recurring software-style income. It also says the cost base remains low because Arbitrum relies on Ethereum for settlement and security rather than funding a large central operating structure.

"Until recently, digital assets did not have revenue in a traditional sense that an analyst would recognise," WisdomTree said.

Enterprise use

Robinhood's role is central to the analysis. The brokerage launched Robinhood Chain as a Layer 2 network that settles directly to Ethereum, placing it alongside Arbitrum rather than on top of it and making it subject to the licence arrangement.

The report says that structure gives operators greater control over economics, validator rules, compliance and performance, while still using Arbitrum's underlying technology. Robinhood first issued stock tokens on Arbitrum before moving to its own chain, which the research describes as a staged migration rather than a full rebuild.

It says the chain's growth has outpaced expectations, with daily fees reaching USD $1.92 million on 1 September and about USD $4.4 million the following day. On the second day, Robinhood Chain earned more in fees than any other blockchain, according to the report.

Other corporate activity cited includes LG Electronics building an advertising network on Arbitrum, Mastercard extending stablecoin settlement support to assets on the network and PayPal's PYUSD reaching USD $475 million there in the first quarter. Not all of those initiatives generate licence income, but the report says they still contribute through transaction fees.

Valuation shift

The publication follows Standard Chartered's initiation of coverage on Arbitrum using a revenue- and multiple-based framework rather than a sentiment-led one. Together, the two analyses suggest some research desks are starting to treat blockchain networks less as speculative assets and more as operating businesses with identifiable income lines.

The report also points to the importance of Arbitrum's treasury. It says most of the treasury is held in ARB, and that a rise in the token price after the Robinhood news lifted the DAO's balance sheet from about USD $450 million to a peak near USD $780 million within three weeks before it fell back.

That movement does not represent operating revenue, but it affects the amount of capital available to support development and governance decisions. The report notes that 92.3 per cent of ARB supply is already unlocked, with the final vesting due in March 2027, limiting the remaining dilution analysts need to factor in.

What remains harder to model is the durability of enterprise activity and whether more large groups choose to build dedicated chains instead of deploying applications directly on Arbitrum. The report identifies three near-term questions: whether Robinhood's volume holds after its gas subsidy ends, whether use broadens into tokenised equities and whether another company adopts the same licensing route.

For now, the central point for analysts is that Arbitrum's business model no longer rests solely on user growth or token sentiment. The report says three of its four revenue lines did not exist two years ago, underlining how quickly parts of the digital asset market are moving towards forms of income that conventional finance can measure.