Arbitrum rallies near 2026 high as network becomes major RWA trading hub

Arbitrum regained attention in the past month, as its native token ARB rallied near its higher range for 2026. Arbitrum is quickly becoming one of the main venues for RWA trading. 

Arbitrum, one of the busiest L2 chains on Ethereum, is regaining attention and usage. The network is now carrying significant traffic based on real-world asset tokenization and trading. Arbitrum is close to Solana in terms of trading tokenized assets and is becoming one of the main liquidity hubs for RWA trading. 

Arbitrum benefits from the trend of on-chain trading for RWA, which has been competing with centralized exchanges. As Cryptopolitan reported, more than $38B of RWA are tokenized and are moving on-chain. 

As a result, the native ARB token rallied by over 167% in the past month, rising to a range above $0.20 for the first time since January. ARB is still far below its all-time peak, but is showing signs of active recovery as users and liquidity return. 

ARB is also trading with the highest volumes for the past year, showing increased interest in the asset. Previously, ARB had slid to all-time lows due to unlocks and insider trading following its high-profile airdrop. 

ARB open interest is also moving closer to $200M, almost recovering to the levels before the October 2025 crash. Derivative trading shows increased interest in the asset, which has now added over 147% in the past 90 days, becoming one of the top 10 tokens to outperform BTC.

ARB fits in as a relatively old legacy token, though it has managed to recover trader interest based on increased on-chain activity. 

Tokenized funds on Arbitrum reach a new record

Arbitrum has become one of the key hubs for tokenized real-world assets. Recently, tokenized assets on Arbitrum reached a new record, with over $800M in assets under management. 

In the past month, Arbitrum also increased its on-chain assets from $9.38B to $11.18B. Natively minted assets rose by $3.81B, or around 7.8% in the past month. The main advantage of Arbitrum is also the highly active and easy bridging to Ethereum. The network is also one of the main transfer partners to Robinhood. 

Arbitrum has more limited connections with Solana and has formed its own ecosystem of RWA and DeFi. The chain locks in $1.38B in value in its DeFi protocols, and may benefit as RWA is incorporated into DeFi apps for trading or as collateral. 

As of September, Arbitrum carries 5,760 total tokenized assets, more than Solana and BNB Chain combined. Asset tokenization accelerated in combination with reflection meme tokens, which combine with on-chain equities to boost their value. 

For now, the biggest tokenization efforts on Arbitrum are linked to money funds and bonds, but popular US equities are also being added.

Arbitrum carries over 32% of its RWA value in tokenized stocks and around 10% in commodities. US and EU debt or bonds make up the bulk of tokenized value. 

Is the ARB rally sustainable? 

Arbitrum is seen as a growth target based on its key role in Robinhood trading activity and tokenization. Recently, Standard Chartered also set up a bullish growth prediction for ARB by the end of 2026 with a price target of at least $0.50, outperforming BTC and ETH. 

In the short term, ARB may return to a lower range to liquidate accumulated long liquidity. Short positions are also available for liquidation up to $0.23, potentially extending the conditions for a short squeeze.

As of September 17, short liquidity was available up to around $0.24 per ARB, though the price rally stalled beneath that range. 

The token is almost left behind on Hyperliquid, with only five whales making bets, of which four have set up short positions. For now, ARB is not facing an overwhelming wave of derivative trading, leaving the price to grow organically.

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