What is Arbitrum?

Arbitrum is a Layer 2 solution designed based on Optimistic Rollups technology to solve problems the Ethereum network is facing such as transaction speed and scalability.

Arbitrum is developed by Offchain Labs, a blockchain research and development company founded in 2018 by Ed Felten, Steven Goldfeder and Harry Kalodner. The company first proposed this solution through a presentation at Princeton University in 2018. This Layer 2 solution has the following highlights:

High EVM Compatibility: Arbitrum is considered one of the most EVM compatible Rollups. Any language that can compile to EVM like Solidity and Vyper should work fine. This creates favorable conditions for developers, as they do not need to have a thorough understanding of a new language before starting product development on Arbitrum.

Powerful developer tools: The Arbitrum development team is working to reduce the barriers to entry when building Layer 2 solutions. As a result, they have released development documents on Arbitrum and other Developers can start using existing tools for Ethereum.

Low transaction fees: As a Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum, Arbitrum is not only designed to enhance Ethereum's transaction throughput but also minimize transaction fees. Thanks to Rollups technology, Arbitrum is able to cut fees to just a fraction of those on Ethereum, while still providing enough incentives for validators.