Arbitrum, one of Ethereum's busiest layer-2 networks, has regained attention over the past month as its native token, ARB, rallied toward the upper end of its 2026 range. The move coincides with the network's rapid rise as a leading venue for real-world asset (RWA) trading, a profile the project has also spotlighted via its official X account.

The chain now carries significant traffic tied to RWA tokenization and trading and is closing in on Solana as one of the main liquidity hubs for the sector. Arbitrum has benefited from the broader shift toward on-chain trading of tokenized assets, which has increasingly competed with centralized exchanges. As Cryptopolitan previously reported, more than $38 billion in RWAs have been tokenized and moved on-chain, in a market whose focus has been shifting from listings toward utility. That rotation matters for Arbitrum because it ties the token's performance to measurable network usage rather than to headline cycles alone.

ARB climbed more than 167% over the past month, according to CoinGecko, rising above $0.20 for the first time since January. The token remains well below its all-time peak but is showing signs of active recovery as users and liquidity return. ARB is also trading at its highest volumes of the past year, reflecting increased interest in the asset. Previously, ARB had slid to all-time lows amid token unlocks and insider trading that followed its high-profile airdrop, which seeded a large share of circulating supply.

Open interest is moving closer to $200 million, nearly recovering to levels seen before the October 2025 crash. Derivative activity underscores the rising interest: ARB added more than 147% over the past 90 days, making it one of the top 10 tokens to outperform BTC. Though it ranks as a relatively old legacy token, ARB has managed to recover trader interest on the strength of 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. Tokenized assets on the network recently reached a new record, surpassing $800 million in assets under management.

Over the past month, Arbitrum's on-chain assets grew from $9.38 billion to $11.18 billion, per L2Beat, with natively minted assets up $3.81 billion, or roughly 7.8%. As a layer-2 network, Arbitrum executes transactions away from Ethereum's main chain while settling back to it, keeping fees low enough to accommodate high trading volumes. The network's chief advantages include highly active and easy bridging to Ethereum, along with its role as one of the main transfer partners for Robinhood.

Arbitrum maintains more limited connections with Solana and has built out its own ecosystem of RWA and DeFi applications. The chain locks in $1.38 billion in value across its DeFi protocols and may benefit as RWAs are incorporated into DeFi apps for trading or use as collateral.

As of September, Arbitrum carried 5,760 tokenized assets — more than Solana and BNB Chain combined — according to RWA.xyz. Tokenization accelerated in combination with reflection meme tokens, which pair with on-chain equities to boost their value.

The largest tokenization efforts on Arbitrum remain tied to money market funds and bonds, though popular US equities are also being added. Tokenized stocks account for over 32% of the network's RWA value, with around 10% in commodities, and US and EU debt or bonds make up the bulk of tokenized value, per a Dune Analytics case study.

Is the ARB rally sustainable?

Arbitrum is seen as a growth target based on its key role in Robinhood's trading activity and tokenization push. Standard Chartered recently issued a bullish growth prediction for ARB through the end of 2026, setting a price target of at least $0.50 that would outperform BTC and ETH, as Cryptopolitan reported.

In the short term, ARB may return to a lower range to liquidate accumulated long liquidity, while short positions are available for liquidation up to $0.23, potentially extending conditions for a short squeeze. As of September 17, short liquidity was available up to around $0.24 per ARB, according to Coinglass liquidation data, though the price rally stalled beneath that range.

The token has been largely left behind on Hyperliquid, where only five whales have placed bets — four of them short positions. For now, ARB is not facing an overwhelming wave of derivative trading, leaving the price to grow organically. From here, the observable markers are the Coinglass liquidation clusters, the pace of Robinhood's Arbitrum flow, and whether the L2Beat and RWA.xyz figures keep registering growth in on-chain and tokenized assets.