Arbitrum adopts Paxos USDG as ecosystem stablecoin

On October 6, 2026, Ethereum layer-2 network Arbitrum joined the Paxos-led Global Dollar Network, launching the USDG stablecoin across its DeFi ecosystem. Unlike Circle's USDC, which makes up 60% of Arbitrum's $3.8 billion stablecoin market but shares no revenue, USDG distributes reserve-generated rewards to partners. A governance proposal asks ArbitrumDAO to support USDG liquidity and allocate 100 million ARB to incentives, highlighting growing competition among stablecoin consortiums.

USDG integrations on Arbitrum

• ▪The Paxos-issued USDG stablecoin launched on Arbitrum One on October 6, 2026, with integrations including Fluid, Morpho, GMX, Maple, Li.Fi, Gauntlet, Steakhouse, LayerZero, and Kraken
• ▪Uniswap and Fhenix are scheduled to integrate the Paxos-issued USDG stablecoin on Arbitrum following USDG's initial launch on Arbitrum

Revenue sharing of the Global Dollar Network

• ▪Brendan Ma, the head of investment strategy at the Arbitrum Foundation, stated that USDG gives Arbitrum and its builders a stake in USDG's growth upside
• ▪The Global Dollar Network distributes rewards generated by USDG reserves among its partners to incentivize adoption, rather than keeping all economics with the issuer Paxos
• ▪Arbitrum does not receive a direct share of the reserve income generated by Circle's USDC tokens currently circulating on Arbitrum's network
• ▪The Ethereum layer-2 network Arbitrum joined the Paxos-led Global Dollar Network on October 6, 2026, to capture a share of the economics from circulating stablecoins

Alternative stablecoin consortia

• ▪In Europe, the stablecoin consortium Qivalis is backed by 37 banks to distribute issuance, distribution, and economics across a broader network of partners
• ▪The Open Standard consortium is building around the OpenUSD stablecoin with backing from major payments and commerce firms including Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, Coinbase, and Shopify

Debatable claims

• ▪Arbitrum's proposed 100 million ARB incentive for USDG is a justified use of treasury funds
• ▪Blockchain networks should prioritize revenue-sharing stablecoins over traditional alternatives
• ▪Consortium-backed stablecoins do more to foster ecosystem growth than single-issuer models