Key Points
Arbitrum’s Record-Breaking Transaction Volume
Data from DefiLlama shows that the weekly transaction volume of the derivatives protocols within Arbitrum, a leading Layer 2 network, reached an all-time high of $18 billion last week. This represents a 17% increase in derivatives volume on Arbitrum within a week, exceeding the $9 billion that Ethereum recorded during the same time frame.
Ethereum has traditionally held the position as the chain with the highest weekly transaction volume of its derivatives protocols. Nevertheless, Arbitrum surpassed Ethereum’s weekly volume for the first time on November 26th and has continued to do so since.
Monthly evaluations reveal that the volume of transactions completed on the derivatives protocol on Arbitrum has consistently outperformed Ethereum’s since December 2023. During that month, derivatives volume on Arbitrum amounted to $45 billion, while Ethereum lagged behind with a monthly volume of $38 billion.
The trend continued in January, with Arbitrum ending the month with a derivatives volume of $55 billion, a 22% increase in month-over-month transaction volume. Conversely, Ethereum’s monthly derivatives volume decreased by 18% during the same period.
Arbitrum’s steady increase in month-over-month derivatives volume has resulted in a significant surge in its share of the monthly transaction volume of multi-chain derivatives protocols, according to DefiLlama data. In December, Arbitrum accounted for 39.25% of all transactions executed across all derivatives platforms, which increased to 42.44% by the end of January. In contrast, Ethereum’s market share fell by 38% during the same period.
So far this month, Arbitrum’s derivatives volume has totaled $18 billion, while Ethereum’s transaction volume from its derivatives protocols has been $16 billion.
ARB’s Value and Investor Profitability
At the time of writing, Arbitrum’s governance token, ARB, was trading at $2.04. According to CoinMarketCap, the altcoin’s value has increased by nearly 10% in the last month. The Money Flow Index (MFI), a key momentum indicator, confirms the increase in demand for the altcoin, with a value of 84.25 at press time.
However, despite the price rise over the past month, the profitability of holding ARB during the same period has declined. The alt’s 30-day Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) ratio, as assessed by AMBCrypto, has been trending downward since January 2nd. Currently at 4.18%, this metric has dropped by 90%, according to data from Santiment.
