This proposal seeks to increase the amount of ETH flowing to the DAO’s treasury through two milestone proposals: The first, increase the L2 minimum base fee from 0.01 gwei to either 0.03 or 0.05 gwei, and to establish a working group tasked with creating a subsequent Milestone 2 proposal that improves the DAO’s ability to act swiftly when market forces signal a need for changes to Arbitrum’s transaction fee mechanism.
Milestone 1 is a simple proposal to raise the L2 minimum base fee from 0.01 gwei to either 0.03 or 0.05 gwei. Milestone 2 will be a separate and subsequent proposal, created by the working group, that intends to create a more long-term solution. The decision to approach the subject in this manner was made on the working group call last week.
The Arbitrum DAO has experienced a significant decline in ETH revenue, primarily due to recent transaction fee parameter changes brought about in the ArbOS Atlas upgrade. From January to March 2024, the DAO spent an average of 13.8M ARB per month, primarily on protocol/user incentives. Additionally, the number of ARB funded programs continues to grow, which ultimately poses risks to the long-term value of ARB and subsequently, the DAO’s treasury. Meanwhile the DAO’s largest source of revenue—derived from the sequencer margin—has undergone a drastic reduction. This margin, a crucial component in achieving eventual DAO sustainability, has been impacted by reductions in L1 surplus fee and the minimum L2 base fee, as implemented in the ArbOS Atlas upgrade. Although these adjustments have reduced transaction costs on Arbitrum One, they have inadvertently flattened the ETH inflow into the DAO's treasury, as detailed in our recently published research. We highly recommend reading this post prior to diving into the rest of this proposal.
This proposal aims to optimize the DAO’s primary revenue mechanism to support the eventual long-term economic sustainability of the Arbitrum ecosystem without hindering protocol usage or growth. The DAO has missed out on substantial revenue since Atlas and this proposal looks to address that oversight. Implementation is particularly crucial during periods of aggressive user incentives, as these are times when the DAO misses out on material ETH revenue in return for the ARB it is spending.
While the DAO envisions diversifying its revenue streams through initiatives like the GCP and other capital allocation activities, licensing fees on the Arbitrum tech stack (expansion program), putting a portion of the treasury to work in RWAs and other yield-bearing strategies, the critical reliance on ETH revenue through sequencer margins remains paramount today and for the foreseeable future. This revenue is crucial not only for maintaining current operations but also for funding essential innovations that ensure Arbitrum retains its competitive edge such as the ETH denominated costs associated with BoLD. Building DAO revenue streams is of the utmost importance in order to secure the future of the ARB token and DAO.
Ultimately, our goal is for the DAO to evolve into a sustainable entity, with robust and adaptable revenue mechanisms ensuring long-term stability and growth. For this to occur, adaptability is necessary. Dynamic adjustments to the minimum base fee variable will allow the DAO to swiftly respond to market conditions and protocol needs, ensuring that we can capitalize on opportunities and mitigate risks as they arise. A flexible approach will enable us to maintain a steady source of ETH denominated revenue, thus enhancing the DAO's treasury diversification, reducing dependence on ARB, and bolstering overall risk management.
While the need for flexibility in fee adjustments is evident given the dynamic nature of demand for Arbitrum’s block space, properly designing such a system raises many open questions. Below are two potential paths for the DAO to consider as a part of Milestone 2, followed by a few open questions:
Option 1: Create a multisig through Hats protocol or a similar mechanism that has the ability to change the min base fee within a certain threshold, such as between 0.01 gwei and 0.1 gwei. Each signer would also have a legal agreement with the foundation that they are expected to change the min base fee variable based on a DAO snapshot vote that reaches a certain quorum (100M ARB). This mechanism maximizes community involvement in changes to the variable and reduces friction to adapt swiftly. However, we are not sure that the DAO is the best suited to make this granular level of decision in the context of the optimal minimum base fee.
Option 2: Implementing an RFP process to select service providers with optimistic control over the fee adjustments within certain thresholds. This mechanism provides a more responsive approach, leveraging decentralized governance tools like a Gnosis Safe, Hats protocol, and a X-day time lock with DAO oversight. This way, we can vote in the most suited entities to the role while minimizing their power. It is our suggested option that leads to many open questions. We dub this solution the Transaction Fee Mechanism Committee, or TFM Com.
Open Questions:
Since it is a long-term strategic necessity for Arbitrum DAO to be adaptable amid constantly evolving market conditions, these questions should begin to be addressed by the already stood up working group. However given its current missed revenue and expenditure, there still remains an immediate need for the DAO to consider increasing the minimum base fee. This proposal seeks to address both of aforementioned problems in two milestones detailed further below.
Milestone 1
Milestone 1 will proceed to Snapshot in the coming week(s) and is a constitutional proposal to increase the minimum base fee to 0.03 or 0.05 gwei. This represents a straightforward approach and addresses the immediate missed revenue of the DAO. These numbers have been chosen as they all fall substantially below the 0.10 gwei L2 minimum base fee that the protocol implemented prior, and still allow Arbitrum to be one of the cheapest Ethereum L2s. It is clear from the analysis of the competitive landscape that in general real users are not fee sensitive at these thresholds.
Milestone 1 is a swift change, addressing the immediate and urgent revenue challenges while we fine-tune the operational details of the TFM Com. For further motivation and reasoning around Milestone 1, again, please refer to our research post. This approach ensures we stop the ongoing loss of revenue as soon as possible. Concurrently, Milestone 2 will introduce a long-term solution, establishing a sustainable framework for the future. This dual-phased strategy underscores our commitment to both immediate improvements and enduring success.
Milestone 2
As Milestone 1 is working its way through the Constitutional AIP process, working group discussions will begin for Milestone 2. The purpose of these discussions is to determine the TFM Com’s mechanisms, expectations, budget, and methods of accountability. Post working group discussions, we believe the first stage of Milestone 2 will be hosting an RFP process, in which we seek three quantitative mechanism design firms to sit on the TFM Com.
Assuming the working group is aligned with our thought process, after the three service providers have been decided, they will each be added as a signer to a ⅔ SAFE multi-sig they will create. We will then utilize a role-based access control mechanism, such as hats protocol, to give this multisig the ability to alter the minimum base fee between 0.01 and 0.1 gwei, or some other agreed upon range that is approved by the DAO. Each change must be reported to the DAO X (tbd) days before being made and go through an X (tbd) day timelock. The multisig will be created with upgradeexecutor as a module, allowing the DAO to replace members at anytime through an onchain vote.
We envision the TFM Com being tasked with the strategic oversight and dynamic management of Arbitrum's min base fee variable. The committee's primary goal is to enhance the DAO's revenue adaptability and sustainability, ensuring that the platform remains competitive and financially healthy. While many details are still to be determined by the working group, below is how we anticipate some of the responsibilities and accountability measures.
Fee Adjustment Oversight:
Research and Reporting:
Community Engagement and Feedback:
Accountability:
June 17 - Forum Post
June 24 - Milestone 1 Snapshot Vote, ranked choice, with options:
Milestone 1 is free to implement for the DAO and the proposal process will be facilitated by Entropy Advisors.
Milestone 2 will require an additional DAO vote and a yet to be determined amount of funding, but these details fall outside of the scope of this initial proposal. The scope of the TFM Com’s work still requires more input from the wider Arbitrum community, and will heavily influence the compensation of the Com’s members.
This proposal seeks to increase the amount of ETH flowing to the DAO’s treasury through two milestone proposals: The first, increase the L2 minimum base fee from 0.01 gwei to either 0.03 or 0.05 gwei, and to establish a working group tasked with creating a subsequent Milestone 2 proposal that improves the DAO’s ability to act swiftly when market forces signal a need for changes to Arbitrum’s transaction fee mechanism.
Milestone 1 is a simple proposal to raise the L2 minimum base fee from 0.01 gwei to either 0.03 or 0.05 gwei. Milestone 2 will be a separate and subsequent proposal, created by the working group, that intends to create a more long-term solution. The decision to approach the subject in this manner was made on the working group call last week.
The Arbitrum DAO has experienced a significant decline in ETH revenue, primarily due to recent transaction fee parameter changes brought about in the ArbOS Atlas upgrade. From January to March 2024, the DAO spent an average of 13.8M ARB per month, primarily on protocol/user incentives. Additionally, the number of ARB funded programs continues to grow, which ultimately poses risks to the long-term value of ARB and subsequently, the DAO’s treasury. Meanwhile the DAO’s largest source of revenue—derived from the sequencer margin—has undergone a drastic reduction. This margin, a crucial component in achieving eventual DAO sustainability, has been impacted by reductions in L1 surplus fee and the minimum L2 base fee, as implemented in the ArbOS Atlas upgrade. Although these adjustments have reduced transaction costs on Arbitrum One, they have inadvertently flattened the ETH inflow into the DAO's treasury, as detailed in our recently published research. We highly recommend reading this post prior to diving into the rest of this proposal.
This proposal aims to optimize the DAO’s primary revenue mechanism to support the eventual long-term economic sustainability of the Arbitrum ecosystem without hindering protocol usage or growth. The DAO has missed out on substantial revenue since Atlas and this proposal looks to address that oversight. Implementation is particularly crucial during periods of aggressive user incentives, as these are times when the DAO misses out on material ETH revenue in return for the ARB it is spending.
While the DAO envisions diversifying its revenue streams through initiatives like the GCP and other capital allocation activities, licensing fees on the Arbitrum tech stack (expansion program), putting a portion of the treasury to work in RWAs and other yield-bearing strategies, the critical reliance on ETH revenue through sequencer margins remains paramount today and for the foreseeable future. This revenue is crucial not only for maintaining current operations but also for funding essential innovations that ensure Arbitrum retains its competitive edge such as the ETH denominated costs associated with BoLD. Building DAO revenue streams is of the utmost importance in order to secure the future of the ARB token and DAO.
Ultimately, our goal is for the DAO to evolve into a sustainable entity, with robust and adaptable revenue mechanisms ensuring long-term stability and growth. For this to occur, adaptability is necessary. Dynamic adjustments to the minimum base fee variable will allow the DAO to swiftly respond to market conditions and protocol needs, ensuring that we can capitalize on opportunities and mitigate risks as they arise. A flexible approach will enable us to maintain a steady source of ETH denominated revenue, thus enhancing the DAO's treasury diversification, reducing dependence on ARB, and bolstering overall risk management.
While the need for flexibility in fee adjustments is evident given the dynamic nature of demand for Arbitrum’s block space, properly designing such a system raises many open questions. Below are two potential paths for the DAO to consider as a part of Milestone 2, followed by a few open questions:
Option 1: Create a multisig through Hats protocol or a similar mechanism that has the ability to change the min base fee within a certain threshold, such as between 0.01 gwei and 0.1 gwei. Each signer would also have a legal agreement with the foundation that they are expected to change the min base fee variable based on a DAO snapshot vote that reaches a certain quorum (100M ARB). This mechanism maximizes community involvement in changes to the variable and reduces friction to adapt swiftly. However, we are not sure that the DAO is the best suited to make this granular level of decision in the context of the optimal minimum base fee.
Option 2: Implementing an RFP process to select service providers with optimistic control over the fee adjustments within certain thresholds. This mechanism provides a more responsive approach, leveraging decentralized governance tools like a Gnosis Safe, Hats protocol, and a X-day time lock with DAO oversight. This way, we can vote in the most suited entities to the role while minimizing their power. It is our suggested option that leads to many open questions. We dub this solution the Transaction Fee Mechanism Committee, or TFM Com.
Open Questions:
Since it is a long-term strategic necessity for Arbitrum DAO to be adaptable amid constantly evolving market conditions, these questions should begin to be addressed by the already stood up working group. However given its current missed revenue and expenditure, there still remains an immediate need for the DAO to consider increasing the minimum base fee. This proposal seeks to address both of aforementioned problems in two milestones detailed further below.
Milestone 1
Milestone 1 will proceed to Snapshot in the coming week(s) and is a constitutional proposal to increase the minimum base fee to 0.03 or 0.05 gwei. This represents a straightforward approach and addresses the immediate missed revenue of the DAO. These numbers have been chosen as they all fall substantially below the 0.10 gwei L2 minimum base fee that the protocol implemented prior, and still allow Arbitrum to be one of the cheapest Ethereum L2s. It is clear from the analysis of the competitive landscape that in general real users are not fee sensitive at these thresholds.
Milestone 1 is a swift change, addressing the immediate and urgent revenue challenges while we fine-tune the operational details of the TFM Com. For further motivation and reasoning around Milestone 1, again, please refer to our research post. This approach ensures we stop the ongoing loss of revenue as soon as possible. Concurrently, Milestone 2 will introduce a long-term solution, establishing a sustainable framework for the future. This dual-phased strategy underscores our commitment to both immediate improvements and enduring success.
Milestone 2
As Milestone 1 is working its way through the Constitutional AIP process, working group discussions will begin for Milestone 2. The purpose of these discussions is to determine the TFM Com’s mechanisms, expectations, budget, and methods of accountability. Post working group discussions, we believe the first stage of Milestone 2 will be hosting an RFP process, in which we seek three quantitative mechanism design firms to sit on the TFM Com.
Assuming the working group is aligned with our thought process, after the three service providers have been decided, they will each be added as a signer to a ⅔ SAFE multi-sig they will create. We will then utilize a role-based access control mechanism, such as hats protocol, to give this multisig the ability to alter the minimum base fee between 0.01 and 0.1 gwei, or some other agreed upon range that is approved by the DAO. Each change must be reported to the DAO X (tbd) days before being made and go through an X (tbd) day timelock. The multisig will be created with upgradeexecutor as a module, allowing the DAO to replace members at anytime through an onchain vote.
We envision the TFM Com being tasked with the strategic oversight and dynamic management of Arbitrum's min base fee variable. The committee's primary goal is to enhance the DAO's revenue adaptability and sustainability, ensuring that the platform remains competitive and financially healthy. While many details are still to be determined by the working group, below is how we anticipate some of the responsibilities and accountability measures.
Fee Adjustment Oversight:
Research and Reporting:
Community Engagement and Feedback:
Accountability:
June 17 - Forum Post
June 24 - Milestone 1 Snapshot Vote, ranked choice, with options:
Milestone 1 is free to implement for the DAO and the proposal process will be facilitated by Entropy Advisors.
Milestone 2 will require an additional DAO vote and a yet to be determined amount of funding, but these details fall outside of the scope of this initial proposal. The scope of the TFM Com’s work still requires more input from the wider Arbitrum community, and will heavily influence the compensation of the Com’s members.
Fees are a revenue source for the foundation, no? (https://arbiscan.io/address/0xbfc1feca8b09a5c5d3effe7429ebe24b9c09ef58)
Revenue for the foundation -> value for the token that governs said foundation.
It's not because correlation does not necessarily mean causation that it never does. Correlations by themselves do not prove something but they are not worthless. Besides when it comes to economics, proofs are pretty much impossible since it's not an exact science anyway.
Another thing I want to outline is that there seems to be severe resistance to change. But one should see it as a revert to normalcy. In actuality, change to the fee system was already forced upon us through EIP-4844 and we should take steps to recreate the fee market as it was prior to 4844.
I do want to insert into this discussion the following graphic courtesy of DefiLlama that to me shows a clear relation between the decreasing valuation of the ARB token and the abrupt decrease in fees after the EIP-4844 update.
I do think that the as @PanteraCapital indicated, users are price elastic but I don't think they are at these kind of levels which is an order of magnitude lower than pre-EIP 4844.
I do want to insert into this discussion the following graphic courtesy of DefiLlama that to me shows a clear relation between the decreasing valuation of the ARB token and the abrupt decrease in fees after the EIP-4844 update.
I do think that the as @PanteraCapital indicated, users are price elastic but I don't think they are at these kind of levels which is an order of magnitude lower than pre-EIP 4844.
To me it's clear that if we revive fee income closer to the levels of pre EIP 4844, ARB token price will follow, which will in turn drive more capital into the ARB ecosystem (As ARB gets more valuable more can be lent on AAVE against ARB, the Uniswap/Camelot etc LP's with ARB will grow larger, the STIP rewards get more valuable etcetera etcetera.)

Fees are a revenue source for the foundation, no? (https://arbiscan.io/address/0xbfc1feca8b09a5c5d3effe7429ebe24b9c09ef58)
Revenue for the foundation -> value for the token that governs said foundation.
It's not because correlation does not necessarily mean causation that it never does. Correlations by themselves do not prove something but they are not worthless. Besides when it comes to economics, proofs are pretty much impossible since it's not an exact science anyway.
Another thing I want to outline is that there seems to be severe resistance to change. But one should see it as a revert to normalcy. In actuality, change to the fee system was already forced upon us through EIP-4844 and we should take steps to recreate the fee market as it was prior to 4844.
I do want to insert into this discussion the following graphic courtesy of DefiLlama that to me shows a clear relation between the decreasing valuation of the ARB token and the abrupt decrease in fees after the EIP-4844 update.
I do think that the as @PanteraCapital indicated, users are price elastic but I don't think they are at these kind of levels which is an order of magnitude lower than pre-EIP 4844.
I do want to insert into this discussion the following graphic courtesy of DefiLlama that to me shows a clear relation between the decreasing valuation of the ARB token and the abrupt decrease in fees after the EIP-4844 update.
I do think that the as @PanteraCapital indicated, users are price elastic but I don't think they are at these kind of levels which is an order of magnitude lower than pre-EIP 4844.
To me it's clear that if we revive fee income closer to the levels of pre EIP 4844, ARB token price will follow, which will in turn drive more capital into the ARB ecosystem (As ARB gets more valuable more can be lent on AAVE against ARB, the Uniswap/Camelot etc LP's with ARB will grow larger, the STIP rewards get more valuable etcetera etcetera.)

As part of our efforts at the Pantera Research Lab and the Pantera Catalyze Research Fellowship, we've explored the potential impact of a fee adjustment.
Below are findings that may contribute to the discussion here:
As part of our efforts at the Pantera Research Lab and the Pantera Catalyze Research Fellowship, we've explored the potential impact of a fee adjustment.
Below are findings that may contribute to the discussion here:
*e.g. shifting the supply curve to an equilibrium where elasticities are lower.
Why do we care about ‘demand elasticity’ and why is it hard to measure?
The elasticity of demand predicts how users respond to fee changes, like those being considered in this thread. Given how important elasticities are, it would be nice if it were simple to measure them. Unfortunately there’s a saying in economics that applies here: “Don’t reason from a price change.” Econ 101 tells you that prices and quantities are the result of supply and demand, so we look for cases where it’s plausible that there were unanticipated shifts in supply and then measure the resulting effect on demand.
The figure below explains this in the context of semiconductor production. To discover the elasticity of demand for semiconductors, the authors needed to find sudden unanticipated changes in supply. Using the supply chain disruption caused by Covid, they could then observe the slope of the demand curve and determine the elasticity.

Here is more of the nitty gritty of our analysis:
To address the challenges of estimating demand elasticities, Lee employed a Two-Stage Least Squares regression using the plausible exogeneity of L1 gas fees as an instrumental variable. In the first stage, Lee instrumented Arbitrum's gas fees using L1 gas fees to predict transaction values based on L1 fee variation. In the second stage, he regressed Arbitrum gas usage on these predicted values, effectively isolating the variation in Arbitrum gas fees that is independent of user demand. Below is a table from Lee’s analysis, showing the estimates from the second stage of his regression:

In order to test how applicable this finding would be post-4844, we decided to test whether 4844 had a significant impact on elasticities themselves. In our subsequent analysis, using the sudden fee adjustment of EIP-4844 as a shock, we observed that Arbitrum users became less sensitive to fee fluctuations (decreased elasticity.) This indicates that post-4844 users are less elastic than in Lee's analysis.
In conclusion:
Our strongest evidence suggests that a fee increase on Arbitrum would cause a decrease in user demand. This decrease could be large enough to offset the revenue from a fee increase.
However, that evidence relies on pre-4844 data and we are in a post-4844 world. A further analysis we conducted indicates that 4844 did make Arbitrum users less price sensitive. We also observe that there is a good argument against raising fees even on Arbitrum in general: that current thinking suggests L2 markets are winner-take-most. That is, if the goal is acquiring and retaining users in the short run, then it may be ideal to charge them as a little as possible.
Thanks to @Entropy for the proposal!
I’m glad to see suggestions in this area. I support raising the minimum base fee, as it will provide a more solid foundation for the subsequent arb economic model.
As part of our efforts at the Pantera Research Lab and the Pantera Catalyze Research Fellowship, we've explored the potential impact of a fee adjustment.
Below are findings that may contribute to the discussion here:
As part of our efforts at the Pantera Research Lab and the Pantera Catalyze Research Fellowship, we've explored the potential impact of a fee adjustment.
Below are findings that may contribute to the discussion here:
*e.g. shifting the supply curve to an equilibrium where elasticities are lower.
Why do we care about ‘demand elasticity’ and why is it hard to measure?
The elasticity of demand predicts how users respond to fee changes, like those being considered in this thread. Given how important elasticities are, it would be nice if it were simple to measure them. Unfortunately there’s a saying in economics that applies here: “Don’t reason from a price change.” Econ 101 tells you that prices and quantities are the result of supply and demand, so we look for cases where it’s plausible that there were unanticipated shifts in supply and then measure the resulting effect on demand.
The figure below explains this in the context of semiconductor production. To discover the elasticity of demand for semiconductors, the authors needed to find sudden unanticipated changes in supply. Using the supply chain disruption caused by Covid, they could then observe the slope of the demand curve and determine the elasticity.

Here is more of the nitty gritty of our analysis:
To address the challenges of estimating demand elasticities, Lee employed a Two-Stage Least Squares regression using the plausible exogeneity of L1 gas fees as an instrumental variable. In the first stage, Lee instrumented Arbitrum's gas fees using L1 gas fees to predict transaction values based on L1 fee variation. In the second stage, he regressed Arbitrum gas usage on these predicted values, effectively isolating the variation in Arbitrum gas fees that is independent of user demand. Below is a table from Lee’s analysis, showing the estimates from the second stage of his regression:

In order to test how applicable this finding would be post-4844, we decided to test whether 4844 had a significant impact on elasticities themselves. In our subsequent analysis, using the sudden fee adjustment of EIP-4844 as a shock, we observed that Arbitrum users became less sensitive to fee fluctuations (decreased elasticity.) This indicates that post-4844 users are less elastic than in Lee's analysis.
In conclusion:
Our strongest evidence suggests that a fee increase on Arbitrum would cause a decrease in user demand. This decrease could be large enough to offset the revenue from a fee increase.
However, that evidence relies on pre-4844 data and we are in a post-4844 world. A further analysis we conducted indicates that 4844 did make Arbitrum users less price sensitive. We also observe that there is a good argument against raising fees even on Arbitrum in general: that current thinking suggests L2 markets are winner-take-most. That is, if the goal is acquiring and retaining users in the short run, then it may be ideal to charge them as a little as possible.
Thanks to @Entropy for the proposal!
I’m glad to see suggestions in this area. I support raising the minimum base fee, as it will provide a more solid foundation for the subsequent arb economic model.
Before increasing fees, another idea that could improve the DAO sustainability is to stop squandering funds into pointless "grants" with almost zero benefits and which have absolutely cratered the ARB token and made it one of the worst performer of the last 12 months. Of course this would require that the people receiving the grants have no acquaintance with the people voting to distribute the grants and that seem to be a problem that many do not want to see solved.
Before increasing fees, another idea that could improve the DAO sustainability is to stop squandering funds into pointless "grants" with almost zero benefits and which have absolutely cratered the ARB token and made it one of the worst performer of the last 12 months. Of course this would require that the people receiving the grants have no acquaintance with the people voting to distribute the grants and that seem to be a problem that many do not want to see solved.
Option 2: Implementing an RFP process to select service providers with optimistic control over the fee adjustments within certain thresholds. This mechanism provides a more responsive approach, leveraging decentralized governance tools like a Gnosis Safe, Hats protocol, and a X-day time lock with DAO oversight. This way, we can vote in the most suited entities to the role while minimizing their power. It is our suggested option that leads to many open questions. We dub this solution the Transaction Fee Mechanism Committee, or TFM Com.
Option 2: Implementing an RFP process to select service providers with optimistic control over the fee adjustments within certain thresholds. This mechanism provides a more responsive approach, leveraging decentralized governance tools like a Gnosis Safe, Hats protocol, and a X-day time lock with DAO oversight. This way, we can vote in the most suited entities to the role while minimizing their power. It is our suggested option that leads to many open questions. We dub this solution the Transaction Fee Mechanism Committee, or TFM Com.
Thank you for mentioning Avantgarde during the discussion as a potential service provider for calibrating the base fee. We would agree that Option 2 utilizing optimistic control over the fee adjustment to be run by a specialist would provide a sensible balance of flexibility, expertise, and oversight.
Having run modelling work on sequencer revenues and their intersection with economics at the DAO treasury level, we are happy to be part of that discussion to help contribute to a potential Transaction Fee Mechanism Committee in a meaningful way
Option 2: Implementing an RFP process to select service providers with optimistic control over the fee adjustments within certain thresholds. This mechanism provides a more responsive approach, leveraging decentralized governance tools like a Gnosis Safe, Hats protocol, and a X-day time lock with DAO oversight. This way, we can vote in the most suited entities to the role while minimizing their power. It is our suggested option that leads to many open questions. We dub this solution the Transaction Fee Mechanism Committee, or TFM Com.
Option 2: Implementing an RFP process to select service providers with optimistic control over the fee adjustments within certain thresholds. This mechanism provides a more responsive approach, leveraging decentralized governance tools like a Gnosis Safe, Hats protocol, and a X-day time lock with DAO oversight. This way, we can vote in the most suited entities to the role while minimizing their power. It is our suggested option that leads to many open questions. We dub this solution the Transaction Fee Mechanism Committee, or TFM Com.
Thank you for mentioning Avantgarde during the discussion as a potential service provider for calibrating the base fee. We would agree that Option 2 utilizing optimistic control over the fee adjustment to be run by a specialist would provide a sensible balance of flexibility, expertise, and oversight.
Having run modelling work on sequencer revenues and their intersection with economics at the DAO treasury level, we are happy to be part of that discussion to help contribute to a potential Transaction Fee Mechanism Committee in a meaningful way
We are currently being spammed by a protocol called UX Link which is one of Arbitrum’s biggest txn drivers. We are making virtually no money from these transactions. One implication of this proposal is that bot volume will likely decrease, which in turn will have the negative impact of decreasing unique wallets and # of txns. However, these are vanity metrics. As described above, the impact on real users is minimal even for protocol’s with high gas costs, and it is to safe to assume that there be little to no user drop off unless you think adding pennies to txns costs will suddenly make users fee sensitive.
Arbitrum gas pricing already follows a supply-demand-cost model with congestion pricing. Min base fee is only relevant in times when congestion pricing is not kicked in.
The current design and architecture underlying Arbitrum allow for the Min Base Fee to be increased in accordance with the proposal, while not meaningfully compromising the chain's feasibility, usability, competitiveness and USPs.
Financial sustainability is an essential component of any long-term oriented organization and its prioritization can be a key differentiator for the future prospects and viability of the ecosystem.
The current design and architecture underlying Arbitrum allow for the Min Base Fee to be increased in accordance with the proposal, while not meaningfully compromising the chain's feasibility, usability, competitiveness and USPs.
Financial sustainability is an essential component of any long-term oriented organization and its prioritization can be a key differentiator for the future prospects and viability of the ecosystem.
The proposal effectively combines the two aforementioned aspects in a manner that clearly positions its implementation to be a net positive for Arbitrum.
We are currently being spammed by a protocol called UX Link which is one of Arbitrum’s biggest txn drivers. We are making virtually no money from these transactions. One implication of this proposal is that bot volume will likely decrease, which in turn will have the negative impact of decreasing unique wallets and # of txns. However, these are vanity metrics. As described above, the impact on real users is minimal even for protocol’s with high gas costs, and it is to safe to assume that there be little to no user drop off unless you think adding pennies to txns costs will suddenly make users fee sensitive.
Arbitrum gas pricing already follows a supply-demand-cost model with congestion pricing. Min base fee is only relevant in times when congestion pricing is not kicked in.
The current design and architecture underlying Arbitrum allow for the Min Base Fee to be increased in accordance with the proposal, while not meaningfully compromising the chain's feasibility, usability, competitiveness and USPs.
Financial sustainability is an essential component of any long-term oriented organization and its prioritization can be a key differentiator for the future prospects and viability of the ecosystem.
The current design and architecture underlying Arbitrum allow for the Min Base Fee to be increased in accordance with the proposal, while not meaningfully compromising the chain's feasibility, usability, competitiveness and USPs.
Financial sustainability is an essential component of any long-term oriented organization and its prioritization can be a key differentiator for the future prospects and viability of the ecosystem.
The proposal effectively combines the two aforementioned aspects in a manner that clearly positions its implementation to be a net positive for Arbitrum.
Until the staking proposal is accepted, all these incomes will simply sit in the account and will not affect the token in any way.
The change as proposed, at 0.05 min base fee and current ETH prices, would add $0.00294 to a normal wallet to wallet transaction only in times of no congestion. We don’t believe this would impact any real user growth.
The change as proposed, at 0.05 min base fee and current ETH prices, would add $0.00294 to a normal wallet to wallet transaction only in times of no congestion. We don’t believe this would impact any real user growth.
Thanks for your analysis and proposal. I am in support of raising the base fee on the L2 to provide a more sustainable revenue stream for the DAO.
I want to echo @JoJo - has any survey been conducted to gauge sentiment among all builders? Particularly if there is any onchain game with a high number of txs where their users might be more sensible.
To me it’s clear that if we revive fee income closer to the levels of pre EIP 4844, ARB token price will follow, which will in turn drive more capital into the ARB ecosystem
Until the staking proposal is accepted, all these incomes will simply sit in the account and will not affect the token in any way.
The change as proposed, at 0.05 min base fee and current ETH prices, would add $0.00294 to a normal wallet to wallet transaction only in times of no congestion. We don’t believe this would impact any real user growth.
The change as proposed, at 0.05 min base fee and current ETH prices, would add $0.00294 to a normal wallet to wallet transaction only in times of no congestion. We don’t believe this would impact any real user growth.
Thanks for your analysis and proposal. I am in support of raising the base fee on the L2 to provide a more sustainable revenue stream for the DAO.
I want to echo @JoJo - has any survey been conducted to gauge sentiment among all builders? Particularly if there is any onchain game with a high number of txs where their users might be more sensible.
To me it’s clear that if we revive fee income closer to the levels of pre EIP 4844, ARB token price will follow, which will in turn drive more capital into the ARB ecosystem
To me it’s clear that if we revive fee income closer to the levels of pre EIP 4844, ARB token price will follow, which will in turn drive more capital into the ARB ecosystem
But for me it is not at all obvious. How is the price of ARB connected with the price of gas? The price of ARB is not connected with this in any way and I do not understand where such conclusions come from. ARB is now connected only with voting.
this might just be a case of post hoc ergo propter hoc. Linking the price of arb to this (or any) event might just make us look at all elements from the wrong point of view; and beside, the event we had in march (the huge unlock) is potentially more impactful on the price than anything.
Would take this occasion to link the study from chaos labs about increaasing arb base fee, worth reading. https://forum.arbitrum.foundation/t/request-for-support-chaos-labs-backtesting-and-suggestions-for-min-base-fee/24797/5?u=jojo
Hey Pantera team! I think I speak for everyone when I say how happy we are to have you guys here actively contributing in Arbitrum governance. Huge W for the ecosystem.
However, I would have like to of seen "user" defined in Lee's study. There is a ton of bot activity occuring on Arbitrum One, and to not segregate the users into cohorts somewhat misses the forrest for the trees in my opinion. We need to know how REAL users and developers would be affected by a minimum base fee increase rather than bots, because i am of the belief that increasing fees for the latter camp is okay. What we don't want is to lose actual people with organic demand to use ArbOne to other networks due to demand elasticity in rfr to fees. To reinforce my point, consider the fact that a project not many in the community have heard of or used (UXLink) has held a 30-60% market share over ArbOne transactions for months now (Dark Blue shaded).
Hey Pantera team! I think I speak for everyone when I say how happy we are to have you guys here actively contributing in Arbitrum governance. Huge W for the ecosystem.
However, I would have like to of seen "user" defined in Lee's study. There is a ton of bot activity occuring on Arbitrum One, and to not segregate the users into cohorts somewhat misses the forrest for the trees in my opinion. We need to know how REAL users and developers would be affected by a minimum base fee increase rather than bots, because i am of the belief that increasing fees for the latter camp is okay. What we don't want is to lose actual people with organic demand to use ArbOne to other networks due to demand elasticity in rfr to fees. To reinforce my point, consider the fact that a project not many in the community have heard of or used (UXLink) has held a 30-60% market share over ArbOne transactions for months now (Dark Blue shaded).

To reinforce this point, if we look at the amount of revenue being driven to the DAO on a per transaction basis - we are earning far less on UXLink "users" versus legitiment DeFi primitives like GMX and Uniswap. For UXLink, 0.000002 ETH of fees are generated for the DAO for every contract interaction versus 0.0001 ETH for GMX V2 and 0.00003 ETH for Uniswap's universal router. That's ~100x and ~10x differences respectively when compared to UXLink. An increase in the L2 minbase fee would force the UXLink "users" to pay more but would largely leave GMX V2 and Uniswap uneffected assuming no congestion similar to what we saw with the LayerZero airdrop that drove congestion fees extremely high. Additionally, given the fact that Arbitrum is the leading chain for DeFi - I am hard pressed to believe that a user with a $5,000 position that needs to be managed is thinking twice about making the move based on a $0.05 fee or a $0.50 fee.
In terms of other ecosystem's strategies, specifically base - which has been gradually INCREASING the target gas per block in an effort to increase throughput and lower fees, that is indeed a viable strategy. And to your point, maybe prioritizing this short term growth in usage metrics is the better move for the long-term. My view is that we have orbit chains that can do whatever they want with gas configurations, but ArbOne is premium block space secured by Ethereum with actual security guarantees… and should be priced as such. We are handing out ARB left and right as incentives, so why make block space even cheaper when a vast majority of activity still happens on ArbOne? If there actually are certain use cases being built out today that need additional/cheaper throughput (I personally don’t think that’s true - and there are more optimal options on the market today that would be more suitable than ArbOne for extremely high throughput use cases, so why would they not build there anyways?), then we should not be thinking about increasing the base fee but instead lowering fees while juicing throughput. But I’d rather profit off the bot activity / airdrop farmers / mercenary capital for now and see if base’s thesis actually plays out. And like I said, you can still experiment at the orbit level as to not miss out on innovation at base and other ecosystems operating under the same thesis: prioritize growth and do not concern ourselves with profit.
I would be keen to see a revamped study on the elasticity of user demand in relation to tx fees, especially considering blob prices are near 0 as of now and the L1 gas spikes (outside of the blob market) have no impact on L2 fees anymore. I believe @chaoslabs is nearing completion on their backtesting on a min base fee increase as apart of their scope with the ARDC, so I will be sure to drop that here as well so you guys can check it out!
All this to say - you guys raise some great points. It becomes a strategy question of "should the dao focus a little bit on profit, or solely focus on growth?" I do not have a good answer here, but my opinion is to focus a little bit on profit so we can more easily navigate the next bear market without being forced into selling ARB tokens at low valuations.
To me it’s clear that if we revive fee income closer to the levels of pre EIP 4844, ARB token price will follow, which will in turn drive more capital into the ARB ecosystem
But for me it is not at all obvious. How is the price of ARB connected with the price of gas? The price of ARB is not connected with this in any way and I do not understand where such conclusions come from. ARB is now connected only with voting.
this might just be a case of post hoc ergo propter hoc. Linking the price of arb to this (or any) event might just make us look at all elements from the wrong point of view; and beside, the event we had in march (the huge unlock) is potentially more impactful on the price than anything.
Would take this occasion to link the study from chaos labs about increaasing arb base fee, worth reading. https://forum.arbitrum.foundation/t/request-for-support-chaos-labs-backtesting-and-suggestions-for-min-base-fee/24797/5?u=jojo
Hey Pantera team! I think I speak for everyone when I say how happy we are to have you guys here actively contributing in Arbitrum governance. Huge W for the ecosystem.
However, I would have like to of seen "user" defined in Lee's study. There is a ton of bot activity occuring on Arbitrum One, and to not segregate the users into cohorts somewhat misses the forrest for the trees in my opinion. We need to know how REAL users and developers would be affected by a minimum base fee increase rather than bots, because i am of the belief that increasing fees for the latter camp is okay. What we don't want is to lose actual people with organic demand to use ArbOne to other networks due to demand elasticity in rfr to fees. To reinforce my point, consider the fact that a project not many in the community have heard of or used (UXLink) has held a 30-60% market share over ArbOne transactions for months now (Dark Blue shaded).
Hey Pantera team! I think I speak for everyone when I say how happy we are to have you guys here actively contributing in Arbitrum governance. Huge W for the ecosystem.
However, I would have like to of seen "user" defined in Lee's study. There is a ton of bot activity occuring on Arbitrum One, and to not segregate the users into cohorts somewhat misses the forrest for the trees in my opinion. We need to know how REAL users and developers would be affected by a minimum base fee increase rather than bots, because i am of the belief that increasing fees for the latter camp is okay. What we don't want is to lose actual people with organic demand to use ArbOne to other networks due to demand elasticity in rfr to fees. To reinforce my point, consider the fact that a project not many in the community have heard of or used (UXLink) has held a 30-60% market share over ArbOne transactions for months now (Dark Blue shaded).

To reinforce this point, if we look at the amount of revenue being driven to the DAO on a per transaction basis - we are earning far less on UXLink "users" versus legitiment DeFi primitives like GMX and Uniswap. For UXLink, 0.000002 ETH of fees are generated for the DAO for every contract interaction versus 0.0001 ETH for GMX V2 and 0.00003 ETH for Uniswap's universal router. That's ~100x and ~10x differences respectively when compared to UXLink. An increase in the L2 minbase fee would force the UXLink "users" to pay more but would largely leave GMX V2 and Uniswap uneffected assuming no congestion similar to what we saw with the LayerZero airdrop that drove congestion fees extremely high. Additionally, given the fact that Arbitrum is the leading chain for DeFi - I am hard pressed to believe that a user with a $5,000 position that needs to be managed is thinking twice about making the move based on a $0.05 fee or a $0.50 fee.
In terms of other ecosystem's strategies, specifically base - which has been gradually INCREASING the target gas per block in an effort to increase throughput and lower fees, that is indeed a viable strategy. And to your point, maybe prioritizing this short term growth in usage metrics is the better move for the long-term. My view is that we have orbit chains that can do whatever they want with gas configurations, but ArbOne is premium block space secured by Ethereum with actual security guarantees… and should be priced as such. We are handing out ARB left and right as incentives, so why make block space even cheaper when a vast majority of activity still happens on ArbOne? If there actually are certain use cases being built out today that need additional/cheaper throughput (I personally don’t think that’s true - and there are more optimal options on the market today that would be more suitable than ArbOne for extremely high throughput use cases, so why would they not build there anyways?), then we should not be thinking about increasing the base fee but instead lowering fees while juicing throughput. But I’d rather profit off the bot activity / airdrop farmers / mercenary capital for now and see if base’s thesis actually plays out. And like I said, you can still experiment at the orbit level as to not miss out on innovation at base and other ecosystems operating under the same thesis: prioritize growth and do not concern ourselves with profit.
I would be keen to see a revamped study on the elasticity of user demand in relation to tx fees, especially considering blob prices are near 0 as of now and the L1 gas spikes (outside of the blob market) have no impact on L2 fees anymore. I believe @chaoslabs is nearing completion on their backtesting on a min base fee increase as apart of their scope with the ARDC, so I will be sure to drop that here as well so you guys can check it out!
All this to say - you guys raise some great points. It becomes a strategy question of "should the dao focus a little bit on profit, or solely focus on growth?" I do not have a good answer here, but my opinion is to focus a little bit on profit so we can more easily navigate the next bear market without being forced into selling ARB tokens at low valuations.
I don’t understand why everyone writes that this has minimal impact on users? First: You want to increase the cost of gas by 5 times. This will affect the cost of gas for users also by 5 times. If you make 1 transaction per month, then of course this does not affect anything, but for active users it will be a rollback to previous indicators.
Secondly, we all voted to reduce the base fee to 0.01 , and in a couple of months we want to roll back. Why?
I don’t understand why everyone writes that this has minimal impact on users? First: You want to increase the cost of gas by 5 times. This will affect the cost of gas for users also by 5 times. If you make 1 transaction per month, then of course this does not affect anything, but for active users it will be a rollback to previous indicators.
Secondly, we all voted to reduce the base fee to 0.01 , and in a couple of months we want to roll back. Why?
Third, if we vote for ARB staking, then I can still understand the benefits for ordinary users. But what are the benefits of this increase now? Just show that now making a small profit is a problem. What is it, what is this money intended for?
I support adjusting Arbitrum’s gas fees to increase DAO revenue. This change has a minimal impact on users but significantly improves resource utilization.
Suggestions:
I support adjusting Arbitrum’s gas fees to increase DAO revenue. This change has a minimal impact on users but significantly improves resource utilization.
Suggestions:
Technical Feasibility: Ensure the technical solution for automatic fee adjustments is viable and implement it promptly.
User Feedback: Establish a feedback mechanism to continuously collect user opinions on fee adjustments for timely optimization.
I hope these suggestions help improve the proposal and ensure its successful implementation.
Thanks to Entropy for the offer!
The proposal discusses adjusting Arbitrum's gas fees by increasing the base fee from 0.01 to 0.05. This change aims to boost the DAO's revenue without significantly affecting user decisions due to the minimal cost difference. It also suggests collaborating with trusted service providers (SPs) for Milestone 2, including implementing KYC measures and possibly automating fee adjustments based on other L2 activities to enhance flexibility and efficiency.
Thanks to Entropy for the offer!
The proposal discusses adjusting Arbitrum's gas fees by increasing the base fee from 0.01 to 0.05. This change aims to boost the DAO's revenue without significantly affecting user decisions due to the minimal cost difference. It also suggests collaborating with trusted service providers (SPs) for Milestone 2, including implementing KYC measures and possibly automating fee adjustments based on other L2 activities to enhance flexibility and efficiency.
Supporting
I support the proposal due to its potential to increase the DAO's revenue with minimal user impact and the inclusion of measures to ensure SP reliability and security. However, the feasibility of automation should be thoroughly assessed to ensure its practicality and efficiency.
Supporting this proposal is wise as it promptly addresses the immediate revenue decline by adjusting the L2 base fee while laying the groundwork for a flexible, long-term solution. This dual approach secures essential ETH inflow, sustains Arbitrum's competitive edge, and ensures the DAO’s economic stability and adaptability in an ever-changing market environment. :+1:
At SEED, we believe this proposal is well-intentioned and holds potential benefits for the ecosystem. We think it is a good proposal, as it can help streamline various processes within the Arbitrum network. At the common user level, the proposed increase in gas fees is not particularly significant and should not pose a substantial burden.
However, the timing of this proposal appears suboptimal, since these last couple of months we spent a significant part of our treasury (eg. Catalyze Gaming Ecosystem), so these actions feel like covering a stab wound with a band-aid. It is essential to synchronize it with the Strategic Treasury Management proposal to ensure cohesive financial planning and execution. We consider it might be a good idea to align this proposal with the Arbitrum DAO Budget proposal that you guys also created.
At SEED, we believe this proposal is well-intentioned and holds potential benefits for the ecosystem. We think it is a good proposal, as it can help streamline various processes within the Arbitrum network. At the common user level, the proposed increase in gas fees is not particularly significant and should not pose a substantial burden.
However, the timing of this proposal appears suboptimal, since these last couple of months we spent a significant part of our treasury (eg. Catalyze Gaming Ecosystem), so these actions feel like covering a stab wound with a band-aid. It is essential to synchronize it with the Strategic Treasury Management proposal to ensure cohesive financial planning and execution. We consider it might be a good idea to align this proposal with the Arbitrum DAO Budget proposal that you guys also created.
We are also interested in understanding how this gas fee increase might impact builders who are currently deploying or those planning to deploy on Arbitrum. Assessing the potential impact on developers is essential to gauge the proposal's broader implications.
In the event that both this proposal and the ARB Staking: Use Surplus Fees to Align Governance proposal are approved, 50% of the hypothetical fees will go to the ARB Staking initiative. Has this potential allocation been considered?
Overall, while we support the core idea of the proposal, we believe these considerations and alignments are crucial for its successful implementation. Thank you, @entropy, for putting this proposal together and for considering our feedback.
Thank you for proposing these adjustments to the gas fees, @Entropy. This is an area I have been concerned about since the Atlas upgrade. Increasing the gas to a minimum base fee of 0.03 and 0.05 still keeps the fees very low, so I don't expect a significant impact on the user experience. However, I would like to understand more about how you arrived at these specific numbers. Is there a particular reason for choosing 0.03 and 0.05? What differences or benefits do these specific values provide compared to other potential options?
Additionally, we need to find the optimum point for the gas fee base to ensure long-term sustainability. I love the idea of having a working group to focus on this specific area and make adjustments based on market conditions.
Thanks for the proposal @Entropy!
We are supportive of the increase in L2 minimum base fee. While we don't think an increase to 0.05 will have a material impact on organic activity, maybe it would be fruitful for both the DAO and the working group for Milestone 2 if we start with an increase to 0.03 with the goal to raise it to 0.05 after a short period of time. This should hopefully provide some additional insight into the effects of raising the L2 min base fee.
Don’t you consider Polygon a competitor ? There the transaction cost is less than 1 cent
There is indeed an unanswered question: has there been any thought on the consequeunce of raising fees?
Everybody is excited about getting more revenue for the dao; but what would the impact potentially be currently?
There is indeed an unanswered question: has there been any thought on the consequeunce of raising fees?
Everybody is excited about getting more revenue for the dao; but what would the impact potentially be currently?
There is a world in which gas cost, amount of transaction and revenue could follow a supply-demand-cost model for example, and maybe increasing the fee could mean a drop in txs activity in a way that could be meaningful for specific protocols for example.
And since the proposal will go to vote soon, wanted to ask about any study on the potential consequences, for the good or the bad.
We have been made aware that per our request, risk member of the ARDC @chaoslabs is slated to look into this proposal and its implications. We will wait to proceed to Snapshot until after their analysis is complete and delegates have had time to digest it.
Why would one change the chain because of this small amount? To be honest, I even think most don't even realize that the price for a transaction has changed a lot. I would not for example. If the price is 0.005 or 0.009 wouldn't care to me.
I'm in favor of increasing the minimum base fee to support financial sustainability. My guess is the user will have a low price elasticity of demand (:eyes: someone showing off their economics degree), and this adjustment will be a clear net positive for the DAO. This is especially true considering the sizeable current fee gap between Arbitrum and its competitors. I am excited to see the conversation continue around Milestone 2 and set up a more robust long-term solution to this important question.
I don’t understand why everyone writes that this has minimal impact on users? First: You want to increase the cost of gas by 5 times. This will affect the cost of gas for users also by 5 times. If you make 1 transaction per month, then of course this does not affect anything, but for active users it will be a rollback to previous indicators.
Secondly, we all voted to reduce the base fee to 0.01 , and in a couple of months we want to roll back. Why?
I don’t understand why everyone writes that this has minimal impact on users? First: You want to increase the cost of gas by 5 times. This will affect the cost of gas for users also by 5 times. If you make 1 transaction per month, then of course this does not affect anything, but for active users it will be a rollback to previous indicators.
Secondly, we all voted to reduce the base fee to 0.01 , and in a couple of months we want to roll back. Why?
Third, if we vote for ARB staking, then I can still understand the benefits for ordinary users. But what are the benefits of this increase now? Just show that now making a small profit is a problem. What is it, what is this money intended for?
I support adjusting Arbitrum’s gas fees to increase DAO revenue. This change has a minimal impact on users but significantly improves resource utilization.
Suggestions:
I support adjusting Arbitrum’s gas fees to increase DAO revenue. This change has a minimal impact on users but significantly improves resource utilization.
Suggestions:
Technical Feasibility: Ensure the technical solution for automatic fee adjustments is viable and implement it promptly.
User Feedback: Establish a feedback mechanism to continuously collect user opinions on fee adjustments for timely optimization.
I hope these suggestions help improve the proposal and ensure its successful implementation.
Thanks to Entropy for the offer!
The proposal discusses adjusting Arbitrum's gas fees by increasing the base fee from 0.01 to 0.05. This change aims to boost the DAO's revenue without significantly affecting user decisions due to the minimal cost difference. It also suggests collaborating with trusted service providers (SPs) for Milestone 2, including implementing KYC measures and possibly automating fee adjustments based on other L2 activities to enhance flexibility and efficiency.
Thanks to Entropy for the offer!
The proposal discusses adjusting Arbitrum's gas fees by increasing the base fee from 0.01 to 0.05. This change aims to boost the DAO's revenue without significantly affecting user decisions due to the minimal cost difference. It also suggests collaborating with trusted service providers (SPs) for Milestone 2, including implementing KYC measures and possibly automating fee adjustments based on other L2 activities to enhance flexibility and efficiency.
Supporting
I support the proposal due to its potential to increase the DAO's revenue with minimal user impact and the inclusion of measures to ensure SP reliability and security. However, the feasibility of automation should be thoroughly assessed to ensure its practicality and efficiency.
Supporting this proposal is wise as it promptly addresses the immediate revenue decline by adjusting the L2 base fee while laying the groundwork for a flexible, long-term solution. This dual approach secures essential ETH inflow, sustains Arbitrum's competitive edge, and ensures the DAO’s economic stability and adaptability in an ever-changing market environment. :+1:
At SEED, we believe this proposal is well-intentioned and holds potential benefits for the ecosystem. We think it is a good proposal, as it can help streamline various processes within the Arbitrum network. At the common user level, the proposed increase in gas fees is not particularly significant and should not pose a substantial burden.
However, the timing of this proposal appears suboptimal, since these last couple of months we spent a significant part of our treasury (eg. Catalyze Gaming Ecosystem), so these actions feel like covering a stab wound with a band-aid. It is essential to synchronize it with the Strategic Treasury Management proposal to ensure cohesive financial planning and execution. We consider it might be a good idea to align this proposal with the Arbitrum DAO Budget proposal that you guys also created.
At SEED, we believe this proposal is well-intentioned and holds potential benefits for the ecosystem. We think it is a good proposal, as it can help streamline various processes within the Arbitrum network. At the common user level, the proposed increase in gas fees is not particularly significant and should not pose a substantial burden.
However, the timing of this proposal appears suboptimal, since these last couple of months we spent a significant part of our treasury (eg. Catalyze Gaming Ecosystem), so these actions feel like covering a stab wound with a band-aid. It is essential to synchronize it with the Strategic Treasury Management proposal to ensure cohesive financial planning and execution. We consider it might be a good idea to align this proposal with the Arbitrum DAO Budget proposal that you guys also created.
We are also interested in understanding how this gas fee increase might impact builders who are currently deploying or those planning to deploy on Arbitrum. Assessing the potential impact on developers is essential to gauge the proposal's broader implications.
In the event that both this proposal and the ARB Staking: Use Surplus Fees to Align Governance proposal are approved, 50% of the hypothetical fees will go to the ARB Staking initiative. Has this potential allocation been considered?
Overall, while we support the core idea of the proposal, we believe these considerations and alignments are crucial for its successful implementation. Thank you, @entropy, for putting this proposal together and for considering our feedback.
Thank you for proposing these adjustments to the gas fees, @Entropy. This is an area I have been concerned about since the Atlas upgrade. Increasing the gas to a minimum base fee of 0.03 and 0.05 still keeps the fees very low, so I don't expect a significant impact on the user experience. However, I would like to understand more about how you arrived at these specific numbers. Is there a particular reason for choosing 0.03 and 0.05? What differences or benefits do these specific values provide compared to other potential options?
Additionally, we need to find the optimum point for the gas fee base to ensure long-term sustainability. I love the idea of having a working group to focus on this specific area and make adjustments based on market conditions.
Thanks for the proposal @Entropy!
We are supportive of the increase in L2 minimum base fee. While we don't think an increase to 0.05 will have a material impact on organic activity, maybe it would be fruitful for both the DAO and the working group for Milestone 2 if we start with an increase to 0.03 with the goal to raise it to 0.05 after a short period of time. This should hopefully provide some additional insight into the effects of raising the L2 min base fee.
Don’t you consider Polygon a competitor ? There the transaction cost is less than 1 cent
There is indeed an unanswered question: has there been any thought on the consequeunce of raising fees?
Everybody is excited about getting more revenue for the dao; but what would the impact potentially be currently?
There is indeed an unanswered question: has there been any thought on the consequeunce of raising fees?
Everybody is excited about getting more revenue for the dao; but what would the impact potentially be currently?
There is a world in which gas cost, amount of transaction and revenue could follow a supply-demand-cost model for example, and maybe increasing the fee could mean a drop in txs activity in a way that could be meaningful for specific protocols for example.
And since the proposal will go to vote soon, wanted to ask about any study on the potential consequences, for the good or the bad.
We have been made aware that per our request, risk member of the ARDC @chaoslabs is slated to look into this proposal and its implications. We will wait to proceed to Snapshot until after their analysis is complete and delegates have had time to digest it.
Why would one change the chain because of this small amount? To be honest, I even think most don't even realize that the price for a transaction has changed a lot. I would not for example. If the price is 0.005 or 0.009 wouldn't care to me.
I'm in favor of increasing the minimum base fee to support financial sustainability. My guess is the user will have a low price elasticity of demand (:eyes: someone showing off their economics degree), and this adjustment will be a clear net positive for the DAO. This is especially true considering the sizeable current fee gap between Arbitrum and its competitors. I am excited to see the conversation continue around Milestone 2 and set up a more robust long-term solution to this important question.
Thanks for the proposal @Entropy!
We are supportive of the increase in L2 minimum base fee. While we don't think an increase to 0.05 will have a material impact on organic activity, maybe it would be fruitful for both the DAO and the working group for Milestone 2 if we start with an increase to 0.03 with the goal to raise it to 0.05 after a short period of time. This should hopefully provide some additional insight into the effects of raising the L2 min base fee.
Regarding Milestone 2, we'd be in favour of Option 2. But we do have concerns about the need for constantly fine-tuning these fees and the costs that will come from funding a specialised group. We would also like to see a veto mechanism incorporated / Guardian role just for additional safety in case of any errors when updating the L2 min base fee (oSnap could also be used here).
Lastly, one overlooked point regarding the elasticity of users is that the DAO is currently spending millions of ARB in incentives to incentivise activity on the chain, so even with an increase in the L2 min base fee the expected cost will still likely be negligible for most users.
Appreciated the additional data provided for us to appropriately evaluate what potential increases make impact on future revenue fee and chain usage. We would like to express our support for the minimum base fee increase.
I'm in favor of increasing the Min Base Fee because I think it is important for the ongoing sustainability of the Arbitrum DAO to generate significant surplus fees. I don't think this will have a meaningful impact on chain usage, because I don't think users are price sensitive below a certain level.

Arbitrum would still be significantly cheaper than its competitive landscape. L2 min base only impacts times when there is no congestion. Arbitrum is close to being a place where it is frequently in congestion and this change then becomes irrelevant.
Arbitrum could lower transaction fees significantly in many ways at the cost of security, for example, by using a DAC or Celestia for DA. We believe one of the strongest incentives to build on and use Arbitrum One is that it inherits security from Ethereum to a high degree.
Do I understand correctly that you consider it normal that the fee for users will increase by a multiple of the increase in the base commission? Now the swap costs $0.01-0.02
All users will go to other chains, taking into account how well and inexpensively bridges work now
Thanks for the proposal @Entropy!
We are supportive of the increase in L2 minimum base fee. While we don't think an increase to 0.05 will have a material impact on organic activity, maybe it would be fruitful for both the DAO and the working group for Milestone 2 if we start with an increase to 0.03 with the goal to raise it to 0.05 after a short period of time. This should hopefully provide some additional insight into the effects of raising the L2 min base fee.
Regarding Milestone 2, we'd be in favour of Option 2. But we do have concerns about the need for constantly fine-tuning these fees and the costs that will come from funding a specialised group. We would also like to see a veto mechanism incorporated / Guardian role just for additional safety in case of any errors when updating the L2 min base fee (oSnap could also be used here).
Lastly, one overlooked point regarding the elasticity of users is that the DAO is currently spending millions of ARB in incentives to incentivise activity on the chain, so even with an increase in the L2 min base fee the expected cost will still likely be negligible for most users.
Appreciated the additional data provided for us to appropriately evaluate what potential increases make impact on future revenue fee and chain usage. We would like to express our support for the minimum base fee increase.
I'm in favor of increasing the Min Base Fee because I think it is important for the ongoing sustainability of the Arbitrum DAO to generate significant surplus fees. I don't think this will have a meaningful impact on chain usage, because I don't think users are price sensitive below a certain level.

Arbitrum would still be significantly cheaper than its competitive landscape. L2 min base only impacts times when there is no congestion. Arbitrum is close to being a place where it is frequently in congestion and this change then becomes irrelevant.
Arbitrum could lower transaction fees significantly in many ways at the cost of security, for example, by using a DAC or Celestia for DA. We believe one of the strongest incentives to build on and use Arbitrum One is that it inherits security from Ethereum to a high degree.
Do I understand correctly that you consider it normal that the fee for users will increase by a multiple of the increase in the base commission? Now the swap costs $0.01-0.02
All users will go to other chains, taking into account how well and inexpensively bridges work now
The change as proposed, at 0.05 min base fee and current ETH prices, would add $0.00294 to a normal wallet to wallet transaction only in times of no congestion. We don't believe this would impact any real user growth.
In my opinion, the main task of Arbitrum is not to become an organization that generates income. In the long term - yes, but now there is a struggle for users. And this is the main goal.
After the update and reduction of commissions, Arbitrum still has a good competitive advantage. If the commission is increased, then other chains will take over users who want to pay less commissions.
In my opinion, the main task of Arbitrum is not to become an organization that generates income. In the long term - yes, but now there is a struggle for users. And this is the main goal.
After the update and reduction of commissions, Arbitrum still has a good competitive advantage. If the commission is increased, then other chains will take over users who want to pay less commissions.
As a result, for the sake of the short-term prospect of making more money, we will lose the opportunity to increase users and the opportunity to receive, accordingly, more commissions in the future.
Some more data that will be helpful to understand the impact of this proposal:
A normal EOA to EOA txn costs 21,000 gas Uniswap Swaps vary depending on complexity and V2 vs V3, but 160,000 is a good average.
With a min base of 0.05 and ETH price of $10,000 0.00000000005 * 21,000 * 10000 = 1.05 cents 0.00000000005 * 160,000 * 10000 = 8 cents
Excellent proposal, as it makes the milestone 1 easily executable and a more in-depth analysis for a later stage.
Regarding this point (for milestone 2), can we add a mechanism where the DAO can challenge the change? You guys mentioned that it will be reported X Days before being made. What happens if there is a disagreement (ex. DAO members don't agree that is the right time to change the fee)
Excellent proposal, as it makes the milestone 1 easily executable and a more in-depth analysis for a later stage.
Regarding this point (for milestone 2), can we add a mechanism where the DAO can challenge the change? You guys mentioned that it will be reported X Days before being made. What happens if there is a disagreement (ex. DAO members don't agree that is the right time to change the fee)
Each change must be reported to the DAO X (tbd) days before being made and go through an X (tbd) day timelock. The multisig will be created with upgradeexecutor as a module, allowing the DAO to replace members at anytime through an onchain vote.
Thanks for the suggestion @Entropy I like the two fold approach of making a swift change and then a dynamic market based approach.
In addition to regular reporting and term limits, what are other accountability methods to ensure selected service providers answer to the DAO?
Thanks for the suggestion @Entropy I like the two fold approach of making a swift change and then a dynamic market based approach.
In addition to regular reporting and term limits, what are other accountability methods to ensure selected service providers answer to the DAO?
Establish clear performance metrics that service providers must meet along with regular reviews of their performance against these metrics. In addition, incentive structures where service providers are rewarded for meeting or exceeding performance targets & penalized for underperformance would be cool to have.
Should selected providers be given powers over more aspects, such as target gas per block, in addition to just the L2 minimum base gas fee?
There are pros and cons to either approach. Allowing providers to manage multiple aspects can lead to a more holistic approach to network fee and performance optimization, on the other hand there's a centralization risk as well as managing multiple parameters can introduce additional complexity and potential for errors.
I suggest, starting with limited powers such as target gas per block and accessing impact.
As a rough exercise, we applied various L2 minimum base fees via a Dune query to simulate what sequencer revenue would have been since Atlas went live on March 18th. The DAO would have profited an extra 427 ETH @ 0.02 gwei minimum base fee, 1760 ETH @ 0.05, and 4016 ETH @ 0.1. The nuances around Arbitrum’s fee mechanism likely render this backtest as a loose approximation, and we would like to see more thorough analysis brought forth from the broader community before we attempt to submit an executable proposal to the forum.
As a rough exercise, we applied various L2 minimum base fees via a Dune query to simulate what sequencer revenue would have been since Atlas went live on March 18th. The DAO would have profited an extra 427 ETH @ 0.02 gwei minimum base fee, 1760 ETH @ 0.05, and 4016 ETH @ 0.1. The nuances around Arbitrum’s fee mechanism likely render this backtest as a loose approximation, and we would like to see more thorough analysis brought forth from the broader community before we attempt to submit an executable proposal to the forum.
This is taken from the original discussion post, but please note these are very rough estimates.
Its grea to see that @Entropy kicked off this topic. I absolutely agree that something has to happen and I am in favour of executing Milestone 1 asap. Changing the base fee from 0.01 to 0.05 should not have any impact on a users decision which L2 he is going to use in the future. Its such a small impact for an individual, but a huge for the DAO and its future revenue. Because in the end (speaking for myself) it doesn't matter if a transaction costs me 0.05$ or 0.1$ it is still cheap compared to mainnet.
For Milestone 2 I think its crucial to work with SP that are already working with the Foundation and can be trusted. In my opinion these individuals should have KYC towards the Arbitrum foundation just like delegates that are being compensated. Best case would be even to have an automated system, tracking other L2and thus deciding to change the base rate based on these information within a predetermined range to reduce overhead and be more flexible. But I am not sure if its technical possible and how much time this will need to be implemented.
Its grea to see that @Entropy kicked off this topic. I absolutely agree that something has to happen and I am in favour of executing Milestone 1 asap. Changing the base fee from 0.01 to 0.05 should not have any impact on a users decision which L2 he is going to use in the future. Its such a small impact for an individual, but a huge for the DAO and its future revenue. Because in the end (speaking for myself) it doesn't matter if a transaction costs me 0.05$ or 0.1$ it is still cheap compared to mainnet.
For Milestone 2 I think its crucial to work with SP that are already working with the Foundation and can be trusted. In my opinion these individuals should have KYC towards the Arbitrum foundation just like delegates that are being compensated. Best case would be even to have an automated system, tracking other L2and thus deciding to change the base rate based on these information within a predetermined range to reduce overhead and be more flexible. But I am not sure if its technical possible and how much time this will need to be implemented.
But it would definitely be a pro, similar to all lending markets adjusting their borrow rates for example for stablecoins.
The following chart illustrates estimated monthly revenues for the Arbitrum DAO under different minimum base fee scenarios for the months of April, May, and June (up to June 20th). These estimates assume that all other variables remain constant. The chart compares actual revenue at a minimum base fee of 0.01 gwei with projected revenues at 0.03 gwei and 0.05 gwei.

The change as proposed, at 0.05 min base fee and current ETH prices, would add $0.00294 to a normal wallet to wallet transaction only in times of no congestion. We don't believe this would impact any real user growth.
In my opinion, the main task of Arbitrum is not to become an organization that generates income. In the long term - yes, but now there is a struggle for users. And this is the main goal.
After the update and reduction of commissions, Arbitrum still has a good competitive advantage. If the commission is increased, then other chains will take over users who want to pay less commissions.
In my opinion, the main task of Arbitrum is not to become an organization that generates income. In the long term - yes, but now there is a struggle for users. And this is the main goal.
After the update and reduction of commissions, Arbitrum still has a good competitive advantage. If the commission is increased, then other chains will take over users who want to pay less commissions.
As a result, for the sake of the short-term prospect of making more money, we will lose the opportunity to increase users and the opportunity to receive, accordingly, more commissions in the future.
Some more data that will be helpful to understand the impact of this proposal:
A normal EOA to EOA txn costs 21,000 gas Uniswap Swaps vary depending on complexity and V2 vs V3, but 160,000 is a good average.
With a min base of 0.05 and ETH price of $10,000 0.00000000005 * 21,000 * 10000 = 1.05 cents 0.00000000005 * 160,000 * 10000 = 8 cents
Excellent proposal, as it makes the milestone 1 easily executable and a more in-depth analysis for a later stage.
Regarding this point (for milestone 2), can we add a mechanism where the DAO can challenge the change? You guys mentioned that it will be reported X Days before being made. What happens if there is a disagreement (ex. DAO members don't agree that is the right time to change the fee)
Excellent proposal, as it makes the milestone 1 easily executable and a more in-depth analysis for a later stage.
Regarding this point (for milestone 2), can we add a mechanism where the DAO can challenge the change? You guys mentioned that it will be reported X Days before being made. What happens if there is a disagreement (ex. DAO members don't agree that is the right time to change the fee)
Each change must be reported to the DAO X (tbd) days before being made and go through an X (tbd) day timelock. The multisig will be created with upgradeexecutor as a module, allowing the DAO to replace members at anytime through an onchain vote.
Thanks for the suggestion @Entropy I like the two fold approach of making a swift change and then a dynamic market based approach.
In addition to regular reporting and term limits, what are other accountability methods to ensure selected service providers answer to the DAO?
Thanks for the suggestion @Entropy I like the two fold approach of making a swift change and then a dynamic market based approach.
In addition to regular reporting and term limits, what are other accountability methods to ensure selected service providers answer to the DAO?
Establish clear performance metrics that service providers must meet along with regular reviews of their performance against these metrics. In addition, incentive structures where service providers are rewarded for meeting or exceeding performance targets & penalized for underperformance would be cool to have.
Should selected providers be given powers over more aspects, such as target gas per block, in addition to just the L2 minimum base gas fee?
There are pros and cons to either approach. Allowing providers to manage multiple aspects can lead to a more holistic approach to network fee and performance optimization, on the other hand there's a centralization risk as well as managing multiple parameters can introduce additional complexity and potential for errors.
I suggest, starting with limited powers such as target gas per block and accessing impact.
As a rough exercise, we applied various L2 minimum base fees via a Dune query to simulate what sequencer revenue would have been since Atlas went live on March 18th. The DAO would have profited an extra 427 ETH @ 0.02 gwei minimum base fee, 1760 ETH @ 0.05, and 4016 ETH @ 0.1. The nuances around Arbitrum’s fee mechanism likely render this backtest as a loose approximation, and we would like to see more thorough analysis brought forth from the broader community before we attempt to submit an executable proposal to the forum.
As a rough exercise, we applied various L2 minimum base fees via a Dune query to simulate what sequencer revenue would have been since Atlas went live on March 18th. The DAO would have profited an extra 427 ETH @ 0.02 gwei minimum base fee, 1760 ETH @ 0.05, and 4016 ETH @ 0.1. The nuances around Arbitrum’s fee mechanism likely render this backtest as a loose approximation, and we would like to see more thorough analysis brought forth from the broader community before we attempt to submit an executable proposal to the forum.
This is taken from the original discussion post, but please note these are very rough estimates.
Its grea to see that @Entropy kicked off this topic. I absolutely agree that something has to happen and I am in favour of executing Milestone 1 asap. Changing the base fee from 0.01 to 0.05 should not have any impact on a users decision which L2 he is going to use in the future. Its such a small impact for an individual, but a huge for the DAO and its future revenue. Because in the end (speaking for myself) it doesn't matter if a transaction costs me 0.05$ or 0.1$ it is still cheap compared to mainnet.
For Milestone 2 I think its crucial to work with SP that are already working with the Foundation and can be trusted. In my opinion these individuals should have KYC towards the Arbitrum foundation just like delegates that are being compensated. Best case would be even to have an automated system, tracking other L2and thus deciding to change the base rate based on these information within a predetermined range to reduce overhead and be more flexible. But I am not sure if its technical possible and how much time this will need to be implemented.
Its grea to see that @Entropy kicked off this topic. I absolutely agree that something has to happen and I am in favour of executing Milestone 1 asap. Changing the base fee from 0.01 to 0.05 should not have any impact on a users decision which L2 he is going to use in the future. Its such a small impact for an individual, but a huge for the DAO and its future revenue. Because in the end (speaking for myself) it doesn't matter if a transaction costs me 0.05$ or 0.1$ it is still cheap compared to mainnet.
For Milestone 2 I think its crucial to work with SP that are already working with the Foundation and can be trusted. In my opinion these individuals should have KYC towards the Arbitrum foundation just like delegates that are being compensated. Best case would be even to have an automated system, tracking other L2and thus deciding to change the base rate based on these information within a predetermined range to reduce overhead and be more flexible. But I am not sure if its technical possible and how much time this will need to be implemented.
But it would definitely be a pro, similar to all lending markets adjusting their borrow rates for example for stablecoins.
The following chart illustrates estimated monthly revenues for the Arbitrum DAO under different minimum base fee scenarios for the months of April, May, and June (up to June 20th). These estimates assume that all other variables remain constant. The chart compares actual revenue at a minimum base fee of 0.01 gwei with projected revenues at 0.03 gwei and 0.05 gwei.

Thank you @Entropy for kicking off the preliminary research and proposal on one of the most important issues for the Arbitrum DAO.
As expressed in the forum post for the original Atlas change as below, we are very interested in exploring the appropriate fee value and further considering the best way to make the DAO sustainable to balance the fee revenue mechanism.
Thank you @Entropy for kicking off the preliminary research and proposal on one of the most important issues for the Arbitrum DAO.
As expressed in the forum post for the original Atlas change as below, we are very interested in exploring the appropriate fee value and further considering the best way to make the DAO sustainable to balance the fee revenue mechanism.
https://forum.arbitrum.foundation/t/fix-fee-oversight-arbos-v20-atlas/22152/18?u=tane
It would be great to share, if exists, how the fee revenue would change if the minimum base fee is changed to 0.03 or 0.05 (or any other values under 0.1).
Thank you @Entropy for kicking off the preliminary research and proposal on one of the most important issues for the Arbitrum DAO.
As expressed in the forum post for the original Atlas change as below, we are very interested in exploring the appropriate fee value and further considering the best way to make the DAO sustainable to balance the fee revenue mechanism.
Thank you @Entropy for kicking off the preliminary research and proposal on one of the most important issues for the Arbitrum DAO.
As expressed in the forum post for the original Atlas change as below, we are very interested in exploring the appropriate fee value and further considering the best way to make the DAO sustainable to balance the fee revenue mechanism.
https://forum.arbitrum.foundation/t/fix-fee-oversight-arbos-v20-atlas/22152/18?u=tane
It would be great to share, if exists, how the fee revenue would change if the minimum base fee is changed to 0.03 or 0.05 (or any other values under 0.1).