PANews January 8 news, according to CoinDesk, the Ethereum Layer2 network Arbitrum has granted its largest developer subsidy ever to South Korea's Lotte Group. Lotte Group is a multi-billion dollar conglomerate with businesses spanning shopping malls, media, and entertainment. This subsidy, provided by the Arbitrum Foundation, aims to support Lotte's metaverse gaming platform Caliverse and solidify Arbitrum's position as its primary blockchain infrastructure provider.
Offchain Labs shared this news at the 2025 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas, Nevada. A representative from the company declined to disclose the specific amount of the subsidy at this 'stage.' The subsidy is technically issued by the non-profit Arbitrum Foundation, which regularly provides grants in the form of ARB tokens to help promote the development of the Arbitrum ecosystem.
Lotte showed interest in the metaverse as early as 2022 and reached a strategic partnership with Arbitrum last year. Caliverse is Lotte's experimental ground for exploring artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and cryptocurrency technologies, where users can experience a variety of media content such as virtual shopping and concerts. Currently, Caliverse has partnered with 7-Eleven, Tomorrowland music festival, as well as fashion brands like Givenchy and MCM.
