Offchain Labs CEO makes the case for Arbitrum’s licensing model as Base walks away from Optimism revenue sharing

Base just broke up with Optimism’s revenue-sharing arrangement, and the fallout is reshaping how the industry thinks about Layer 2 business models. Steven Goldfeder, CEO of Offchain Labs (the company behind Arbitrum), is using the moment to draw a sharp contrast between his network’s licensing strategy and the one Base just abandoned.

What Base walked away from

In February 2026, Coinbase’s Layer 2 network Base terminated its revenue-sharing agreement with the Optimism Collective. Under the previous arrangement, Base contributed either 2.5% of sequencer revenue or 15% of net on-chain profits, whichever figure was greater.

Since the partnership began, Base had contributed approximately 8,387 ETH to the Optimism Collective, roughly $16.4 million. Base was responsible for nearly 90-97% of the collective’s total revenue at various points.

The OP token reacted accordingly. Following the announcement, OP’s price dropped approximately 25%, a reaction that tells you exactly how much the market had been pricing in Base’s continued contributions.

Arbitrum’s counterproposal

Enter Goldfeder, who has been vocal about Arbitrum’s alternative approach. Where the Optimism Superchain model relied on variable, sometimes contested revenue-sharing arrangements, Arbitrum’s Expansion Program offers a standardized 10% revenue share for qualifying Orbit chains and Layer 2s that build on its technology.

Arbitrum’s fee distribution model breaks down into two buckets: 80% flows to the DAO treasury, while 20% goes to the Developer Guild.

Goldfeder has also emphasized that Arbitrum offers free and permissionless licensing alongside its revenue-sharing model. You can use Arbitrum’s technology without paying anything, but if you want the full benefits of the ecosystem program, there’s a clear cost structure.

What this means for investors

For anyone holding OP tokens, the immediate concern is straightforward. Base accounted for the vast majority of revenue flowing into the Optimism Collective. Losing that contribution creates a real hole in the ecosystem’s financial model, and the token price reflects that uncertainty.

The competitive dynamic between Arbitrum and Optimism is also worth monitoring. If Goldfeder’s pitch, stable percentages, transparent on-chain flows, permissionless licensing, resonates with builders choosing where to deploy, Arbitrum could attract chains that might otherwise have joined the Superchain. Every chain that picks Arbitrum’s Expansion Program over Optimism’s model adds revenue to the Arbitrum DAO while simultaneously weakening the Superchain’s network effects.

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