EL7.AI
CryptoMedium•25 October 2026•
4 min read

Preliminary Vote Backs Adding 100 Million ARB to USDG Incentive Budget

Key Facts

1The proposal received 199.5 million ARB in favor, 10.9 million abstentions and 246.2 thousand votes against.
2Participation totaled 210.7 million ARB, equivalent to 68% according to the voting record.
3The text proposes adding 100 million ARB to the DRIP budget and combining seasons two through four into one season.
4The onchain vote begins October 29 and ends November 12, 2026.

An offchain preliminary vote backed adding 100 million ARB tokens to the DRIP program budget to support growth of the USDG stablecoin, setting the stage for a binding onchain vote from October 29 to November 12, 2026. The proposal received 199.5 million ARB in favor, compared with 10.9 million abstentions and 246.2 thousand votes against, according to the Arbitrum Proposals voting record, which closed on October 22. Participation totaled 210.7 million ARB, or 68% according to the percentage displayed in the record. The Arbitrum governance forum said the onchain vote is the step needed to approve the proposal finally. That means the preliminary vote reflects broad support for the plan but does not yet grant final authorization for the allocation.

The proposal raises the DRIP budget to about 165 million ARB, adding 100 million to about 65 million remaining unused from the original budget. The program was approved with a budget of 80 million ARB distributed across four seasons over a one-year window, and its first season focused on lending incentives in decentralized finance. The original budget was valued at about $40 million when approved, according to the governance forum. The text proposes combining seasons two through four into one season focused exclusively on USDG growth. It also expands the program’s uses to include protocol-owned liquidity, liquidity arrangements and incentives for teams integrating the currency.

The plan goes beyond increasing DRIP incentives; it also proposes deploying assets overseen by the Arbitrum Treasury Management Committee to support USDG growth and liquidity, alongside converting Arbitrum Expansion Program fees into the currency after deducting the Developers Guild’s 20% share. The treasury management wallet holds about $66 million in tokenized money market fund positions and stablecoins, according to the proposal. The Arbitrum Foundation remains responsible for custody of the funds and executing transfers, while the Treasury Management Committee is authorized to convert fees into USDG, subject to slippage. Revenue reinvestment transactions are subject to review by the DRIP Season Selection Committee and approval by a two-thirds threshold, with net returns going to the treasury management wallet. The committee’s approval threshold also remains two-thirds, and an offchain vote can end the program and return uncommitted funds to the treasury.

The proposal links incentives to an opportunity to turn currency adoption into dollar-denominated revenue, saying Global Dollar Network partner rewards are tied to the amount of USDG they hold, issue or accept. It targets reaching 15% to 20% of Arbitrum’s existing stablecoin balance during the first year, a level the proposal says could mean hundreds of millions of dollars in USDG supply. The vote followed USDG’s launch on Arbitrum One on October 6, with initial integrations in trading, lending and liquidity. Announced integrations included Fluid, Morpho, GMX, Maple, Uniswap and Kraken, while Arbitrum joined the Global Dollar Network, which has more than 150 partners. Arbitrum’s announcement said the currency is backed 1:1 by cash and cash equivalent dollar reserves and can be redeemed from Paxos for U.S. dollars.

Arbitrum presented the initiative in the context of an established stablecoin market on the network, saying about $4 billion in stablecoins were on it when USDG launched, while the currency’s global supply exceeded $3 billion across networks. The launch announcement quoted Steven Goldfeder as saying Arbitrum was seeing strong demand and volume for dollar-denominated stablecoin transactions, adding: "For a long time, this activity has not taken place in a dollar currency aligned with the ecosystem it creates." The proposal cited a community-approved 250 million ARB investment in late 2024 to strengthen the Arbitrum Foundation’s strategic partnerships budget. It said protocol revenue reached $6.19 million in the first half of 2026. In the market, ARB closed at $0.178937 on October 22, compared with $0.199734 on October 6, according to historical CoinGecko data; these figures do not link the price movement to the vote’s outcome.

The plan stipulates that the DRIP mandate will continue until the one-year mark after approval of the onchain vote, estimated at November 12, 2026, following an earlier extension of the mandate to July 1, 2027. The outcome of the upcoming vote will remain decisive in determining whether the proposed increase and program changes take effect. If approved, the plan will place the consolidated seasonal structure and asset and fee routing arrangements within the framework dedicated to USDG growth. The target of capturing 15% to 20% of the stablecoin balance in the first year remains a stated measure of the initiative’s ambition. Governance allows uncommitted funds to be returned to the treasury if an offchain vote ends the program.