Chains & Infrastructure
Arbitrum Chain: Rollup Finality and Two-Party Fees
Arbitrum One is a rollup that runs on top of Ethereum, which settles its results. The sequencer confirms transactions immediately but provisionally. Hard finality comes when Ethereum finalizes the batch. A USDC transfer cost $0.0020 at current conditions on 11 September 2026, including the measured L1 component. Three issuer-listed stablecoins run natively.
| Fact | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Nitro rollup, runs on top of Ethereum | C-34 | |
| Soft finality | Sequencer feed, immediate and provisional | C-34 | |
| Hard finality | Parent-chain batch inclusion and finalization | C-34 | |
| Withdrawal challenge period | 6.4 days, then manual layer 1 execution | C-34 | |
| Gas token | ETH, two-party fee, poster plus network | C-34 | |
| Conditions USDC transfer fee | $0.0020, stable across two pulls | C-35 | |
| Observed median USDC transfer fee | $0.0068, batch-inclusive, L1 leg included | C-35 | |
| Stablecoins on chain (provider) | $3,683,183,563 | C-10 |
What Arbitrum is
Arbitrum One is a finance-native rollup. Its own documentation states the model directly. Arbitrum runs on top of Ethereum [4]. Transactions cost less there. The chain processes more of them per second. Ethereum still settles the results and keeps the data available [4].
A launch date is deliberately absent here. The captured documentation states none. The raw genesis header carries a zero timestamp, the same null-header pattern other chains show. Widely cited dating for the mainnet could not be banked from primary sources at the research date. This page does not print what the record does not carry. The read date for that negative is 11 September 2026.
The rollup mechanism
The docs explain the name. The sequencer orders transactions. Arbitrum compresses that order and posts it to Ethereum. That is where the name Rollup comes from [4]. The execution stack, Nitro, supports efficient fraud proofs and dispute resolution [4].
What finality means here
Two definitions, both docs-verbatim [4]. Soft finality comes from the sequencer’s real-time feed. It offers immediate but provisional confirmations. Hard finality comes when transactions are included in batches posted to and finalized on the parent chain. Provisional is the word that separates the two.
Withdrawals carry their own clock. The path is inclusion in a rollup assertion, a 6.4-day challenge period, and manual layer 1 execution by any party [4]. That is the exit lane’s design, and the layer 1 versus layer 2 page treats it as the canonical bridge-risk example.
How fees work: two parties
ETH pays gas [4]. The fee model has two named parties [4]. The poster covers parent-chain resources, the calldata needed to post the transaction. The network fee account covers child-chain resources, computation and storage [4]. ArbOS dynamically prices the parent chain gas [4].
Unlike Base, Arbitrum receipts expose the L1 component directly, as gasUsedForL1 [4]. That turns an exclusion elsewhere into a measurement here.
Fees, measured
The conditions metric, dated 11 September 2026. Median base fee of 0.020014 gwei times 40,451 simple-transfer gas plus a 180-gas median L1 component, which is 0.000000813 ETH, about $0.0020 [5] [8]. A second same-day pull read 0.020040 gwei, a 0.1 percent move [5].
The observed metric. Nineteen sampled USDC transfers. The median paid, L1 leg included, was 0.000002715 ETH, about $0.0068 [5] [8]. The median L1 component was 187 gas-equivalent, about 0.1 percent of the fee [5]. Quantified, not estimated, in the post-blob era.
The check leg. An independent node returned a median base of 0.020012 gwei against 0.020014, agreement under 0.3 percent [6]. Observed medians differ across windows with batch share. On batch-heavy chains the parameter legs are the comparison standard, and this library treats them so [6].
The stablecoin economy
One provider’s chains table put all stablecoins on Arbitrum at $3,683,183,563 on 11 September 2026 [7]. Database-reported, that provider’s methodology.
The roster
Three issuer-listed tokens run natively on Arbitrum. The USDC address is issuer-doc verbatim, captured fresh on 11 September 2026 [1]. An explorer API confirmed names at the cross-check date.
| Token | Address, as the issuer publishes it |
|---|---|
| USDC, Circle [1] | 0xaf88d065e77c8cC2239327C5EDb3A432268e5831 |
| PYUSD, PayPal | 0x46850aD61C2B7d64d08c9C754F45254596696984 |
| USDs, TheStandard DAO | 0x2Ea0bE86990E8Dac0D09e4316Bb92086F304622d |
Provenance, stated. The Circle row comes from the issuer’s current table [1]. The PayPal row is an issuer-published address banked by this project’s token verification packs, from the PayPal USD distribution report. The TheStandard row is the same, from that issuer’s own site.
One naming caution rides with the third row. The issuer brands the token USDs. Some providers list it under a symbol that collides with an unrelated Sky ecosystem token.
The Sky dollar page untangles that collision in full. Ticker alone never identifies a token.
The absences, dated. Tether’s protocols page has no Arbitrum section [3]. Circle’s EURC table carries no Arbitrum row [2]. No banked Sky address rows exist for Arbitrum in the research set. Omitted, not asserted absent.
How the figures were checked
Every fee figure above carries a two-provider trail. The official endpoint served both sample windows [5]. An independent node served the parameter cross-check [6]. Their median base fees agreed to under 0.3 percent [6]. The simple-transfer gas pooled twenty transfers across three pulls, with a tight 40,439 to 45,793 distribution [5] [6]. The combined sample count is stated because pooling is a method, not a given.
The documentation routes are part of the record. The Arbitrum docs render server-side and were captured directly [4]. An explorer API verified each roster token’s name at the cross-check date. The USD conversion leg uses a same-session price from a market data provider [8]. It is a conversion aid, not a chain fact.
Where this page sits
The chains hub holds the other networks. The USDC page holds the largest token this chain carries. The PYUSD page holds the second. The layer 1 versus layer 2 page places this chain’s settlement structure beside its rivals’. Every figure above carries its date.
Last verified