Speculation has been looming around Arbitrum since the Optimism airdrop in 2022 but hype re-emerged in the New Year. In January 2023, speculation of bot farming surfaced on the network to gain leverage on a potential airdrop.

The Coinbase integration and growing TVL have also continued to increase the hype around an airdrop. Type “arbitrum airdrop” on Twitter and there will be a slew of hopium-laden commentary that rains down clamoring about an airdrop.

The Bankless team made a pitch as to why the creators of Arbitrum, Offchain Labs, should pursue a token and how the token is critical to the “long-term success” and competitiveness of the network.