Arbitrum Engages European Banks as WisdomTree Report Highlights Network's Revenue Growth

The Arbitrum Foundation held meetings this week with European banks, wealth managers, and family offices, presenting its vision for on-chain finance to institutions representing more than €800 billion in assets under management. The outreach coincided with the release of a WisdomTree research report analyzing the blockchain network's increasingly profitable business model.

Institutional Outreach

At roundtables in Lugano and Milan hosted with asset manager WisdomTree, Arbitrum Foundation's head of investment strategy, Brendan Ma, addressed capital allocators. The Milan session alone gathered institutions managing over €600 billion, according to the report.

Ma's presentation focused on the accelerating trend of tokenizing financial assets and the migration of financial markets to public blockchains. He emphasized that major institutions are moving on-chain and that token-based networks require sustainable business models with real cash flow and revenue to succeed.

A New Revenue Model

In its report, WisdomTree argued that Arbitrum's technology has evolved into a business in its own right, becoming the fastest-growing source of its earnings. The ArbitrumDAO, the network's governing body, earned $6.19 million in the first half of 2026 at a blended gross margin exceeding 97%, an increase from over 90% in 2025.

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This revenue stems from a licensing model where any blockchain that uses Arbitrum's technology and settles to Ethereum pays a 10% royalty on its net revenue to the ArbitrumDAO. WisdomTree highlighted the Robinhood Chain as the first to adopt this model, paying $4.37 million in license fees in its first 10 weeks, of which approximately $3.5 million went to the DAO.

Market Implications

WisdomTree noted the significance of this single partnership, stating that "a single chain has produced more than half what the whole organisation earned in the preceding six months." The key question for future growth, the report suggests, is whether other large enterprises will follow Robinhood's lead in building their own chains on Arbitrum's technology.

The increased engagement with traditional finance follows a September report from Standard Chartered, which initiated research coverage on Arbitrum, signaling growing interest from established financial institutions in the Layer 2 network.