Orbit Chains give builders something increasingly rare in blockchain infrastructure: freedom. Freedom to define your own economics, your own governance, your own trust assumptions. Freedom to launch a chain that fits your application, not the other way around.

Over 35 Orbit Chains have already gone live — powering everything from high-throughput gaming and omnichain loyalty to liquidity routers and education infra. These are not clones; they’re sovereign systems with their own design space.

With interoperability on the horizon, Orbit is evolving from a modular toolkit into the connective tissue of a new kind of ecosystem. Orbit isn’t just unifying chains under a single vision, it’s empowering each to define its own.

1. Going Beyond Arbitrum One

Layer 2s (L2s) have made significant contributions to Ethereum's scalability roadmap. While their early focus was on achieving product-market fit (PMF) as roll-ups and building foundational infrastructure, they now face new challenges, including how to scale themselves.

To address this, some L2s have launched frameworks that enable developers to build chains using their stacks. Each L2 offers a different approach.

This report explores Arbitrum Orbits: a powerful framework for launching customizable chains that inherit the technical strengths of the Arbitrum stack. Orbit Chains can be deployed as L2s that settle on Ethereum, or as Layer 3s (L3s) that settle on Arbitrum One or another L2.

Orbit Chains are modular by design, empowering teams to tailor architecture to specific needs, from governance and gas tokens to performance and trust assumptions.

This model stands in contrast to Optimism’s Superchain, which emphasizes standardization and interoperability under a unified architecture. Orbit prioritizes sovereignty and customization, offering developers greater flexibility in scaling.

Several Orbit Chains are already live, powering applications across gaming, DeFi, NFTs, infrastructure, and more. While user experience (UX) across these deployments is still evolving, efforts are already underway to improve cohesion and create a more seamless developer and user journey.

In this report, we explore Orbit Chains, their role in scaling Arbitrum, the opportunities they unlock, and the growing ecosystem that is forming around them. Through case studies and analysis, we highlight early successes, identify areas for improvement, and outline the roadmap for a more unified Orbit experience

2. Introducing Orbit

Arbitrum Orbit lets teams launch customizable, sovereign chains that inherit the security and performance of Arbitrum One, designed in response to demand from teams wanting more flexibility and control.

Built on top of Ethereum or an L2, Orbit chains inherit the robust security of the chain while granting developers autonomy over key architectural choices.

Orbits ensure:

• Flexibility: Developers can fine-tune infrastructure settings to align with project-specific goals.

• Scalability: High throughput and low transaction costs.

• Robust Performance: Leverages the Nitro stack and Stylus for performance and security.

• Permissionless Development: Developers can deploy L3s without requiring approval.

Projects choose between two design options, reflecting a tradeoff between decentralization and performance. They can take the form of a rollup or an AnyTrust chain:

• Rollup: Stores transaction data on Ethereum L1 (most robust security model; trust-minimized and decentralized).

• AnyTrust: Uses a Data Availability Committee (DAC) to store raw transaction data, reducing costs and improving settlement times by introducing a lightweight trust assumption. This model is well-suited for use cases such as gaming and social media apps.

Both models benefit from Arbitrum’s security guarantees while offering higher flexibility over design parameters. This includes the ability to:

• Set different trust assumptions

• Adjust gas fees

• Design unique tokenomics

• Implement custom governance models

• Choose consensus mechanisms

This level of control enables the creation of application-specific chains (appchains) that are optimized for targeted use cases.

Orbit builders also benefit from a Partner Network of third parties and integrations:

• Rollup-as-a-Service (RaaS) providers

• Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol for native USDC movement

• Block explorers, bridges, RPCs, oracles, and indexers

• Key advantages of Arbitrum Orbits include:

• Customization for specific application needs

• Developer sovereignty and governance autonomy

• Enhanced scalability and lower transaction costs

• Flexibility to experiment with novel functionalities

• Support for programming in multiple languages via Stylus (e.g., C++, Rust)

A unique feature of Orbits is the elastic block time, which means chains only produce blocks when there is demand. This reduces L1 settlement costs and avoids empty blocks.

Another core strength of Orbit Chains is their ability to scale without compromising on security. By leveraging the trust guarantees of the underlying L2, Orbits offer developers and users a strong foundation of safety, a critical differentiator in an increasingly appchain-heavy landscape.

Together, these elements position Orbit Chains as a highly customizable scaling solution for teams seeking sovereignty and flexibility. In the next sections, we compare Arbitrum’s design philosophy to that of competing frameworks and explore how the Orbit model strikes a balance between openness and structured incentives.

2.1 A Different Approach to Superchain

A key distinction emerges when comparing Arbitrum Orbit to other scaling frameworks like Optimism’s Superchain. While both aim to support modular ecosystems, their philosophies diverge: Orbit prioritizes customization and sovereignty, allowing teams to build application-specific chains with full control over architecture. The Superchain, by contrast, emphasizes standardization and cohesion under a shared framework.

This tradeoff affects developer optionality. The Superchain’s unified design simplifies UX and messaging, but can constrain flexibility. Orbit, meanwhile, has historically suffered from fragmentation, with siloed chains and inconsistent UX, but that is beginning to change.

Interoperability is now a core focus. Offchain Labs and the Arbitrum Foundation have launched a phased Interoperability Campaign, with early support for cross-chain intents and pilot chain integration. Over time, Orbit Chains will become increasingly composable — no longer standalone deployments, but parts of a shared ecosystem.

Orbit isn’t choosing between sovereignty and cohesion — it’s working to deliver both.

2.2 How Does Orbit Licensing Work?

Orbit operates under a tiered licensing model that balances permissionless deployment with aligned incentives for the broader ecosystem.

• L3 Orbit Chains that settle on Arbitrum One or Nova are fully permissionless. Anyone can deploy without approval from Offchain Labs or the DAO.

• L2 Orbit Chains that settle outside of Arbitrum One or Nova are also permissionless under the Arbitrum Expansion Program (AEP), provided they follow the AEP terms, including revenue sharing and standard integration requirements.

The AEP is a self-service initiative that simplifies the deployment of Orbit Chains, enabling developers to launch Layer 2 (L2) or Layer 3 (L3) networks with Ethereum-grade security and broad configurability.

This licensing model is designed to be flexible and minimally extractive. Developers can configure their architecture freely, including trust assumptions, fee models, and governance, while ensuring value flows back to the network’s core infrastructure and contributors.

3. Orbit Chains in Action

Because Orbit Chains can be tailored at the architectural level — from VM to settlement layer to gas token — no two deployments look the same. This modularity has attracted projects across DeFi, gaming, infrastructure, and even AI, each customizing their chain to suit its community and use case.

To gain a deeper understanding of the Arbitrum Orbit ecosystem, examining some of its real-world applications is essential. This section highlights different case studies of existing Orbit Chains, as they provide valuable insights into their design, performance, and adoption.

Who Benefits from an Orbit?

• Products with established product-market fit: Protocols with significant usage and revenue may benefit from launching an L3 to go fully vertical. A clear example is Pirate Nation, a popular onchain game.

• Strong communities: This applies to gaming projects, NFT ecosystems, and other network-driven protocols. Examples include Sanko, Azuki, and Apechain, all of which had active user bases before launching their own Orbit Chains.

• Teams looking to experiment: Orbit allows for backend experimentation — including new VM languages via Stylus, custom bridging, and modular interoperability.

Currently, 35 Orbit Chains are live on mainnet, supported by over 1,200 developers and $252 million in bridged value.

Here are the top 10 Arbitrum Orbits for Total Value Bridged:

Across testnet and mainnet deployments, Orbit Chains span several verticals:

• DeFi: 26 chains

• Gaming: 21

• AI & DePIN: 11

• NFTs: 5

• Infrastructure & Tools: 13

In the sections that follow, we highlight case studies from each category, focusing on how different teams configured their Orbits and what those choices enabled in practice.

3.1 DeFi

3.1.1 Gravity (AnyTrust L2)

What it does:

Gravity is an AnyTrust Orbit Chain built by Galxe that settles on Ethereum. It enables high-performance, omnichain user experiences — powering quests, loyalty campaigns, and yield-enabled engagement for a user base of over 25 million. Gravity serves as a programmable engagement layer, allowing protocols to tap into Galxe’s user network with omnichain incentives and unified balances.

Why they chose Orbit:

Galxe needed scalable, low-latency infrastructure to support growing cross-chain activity and eliminate UX friction across campaigns. Orbit offered architectural flexibility and access to ecosystem-standard infrastructure, enabling Galxe to scale its backend without losing Ethereum alignment.

Design decisions and performance highlights:

• AnyTrust model for lower fees and faster confirmation

• 1 gigagas/sec throughput and sub-second finality

• Parallel pipelined execution for throughput scaling

• EVM compatibility for developer ease

• Integrated restaking security using EigenLayer and Babylon

• Built-in omnichain intent support for campaign execution

• Key infra partners: LayerZero, Stargate

Traction and roadmap:

• Highest TVL of any Orbit Chain: $74 million+

• Devnet launched Q1 2025

• Focused on omnichain campaign primitives and unified user balances across chains

Chain info:

Gravity demonstrates how Orbit supports high-throughput, omnichain UX at scale.

3.1.2 Corn (Rollup L2)

What it does:

Corn is a Rollup Orbit Chain designed to unlock yield for native Bitcoin assets on Arbitrum. It allows users to bridge BTC (via LayerZero and Thorchain integrations) and deploy it into a growing ecosystem of BTC-native DeFi protocols, all while benefiting from Arbitrum-native execution environments.

For a deeper introduction to Corn, you can refer to this article.

Why they chose Orbit:

Corn wanted to create a verticalized Bitcoin yield ecosystem that combines custom gas models, Celestia DA, and native BTC interoperability. Orbit enabled that stack with minimal constraints, while still inheriting Ethereum security guarantees.

Design decisions and performance highlights:

• Rollup L2 design with data availability outsourced to Celestia

• BTC bridging via LayerZero and Thorchain

• Plans for native BTC staking and LP-based yield vaults

• EVM execution with custom gas token under consideration

Traction and roadmap:

• Strong early TVL growth

• Ecosystem of BTC-native products under development

• Roadmap includes native BTC integrations and liquidity aggregation via the Arbitrum Orbit stack

Chain info:

Corn highlights how Orbit enables vertically integrated appchains tailored to novel asset classes like Bitcoin.

3.1.3 Converge (L2 Rollup)

What it does:

Converge is an institutional-grade Orbit Chain focused on bringing real-world assets (RWAs) and institutional capital onchain. Built on top of Ethena and Securitize infrastructure, which collectively manage nearly $10B, Converge aims to provide a high-performance, compliant base layer for financial applications and tokenized assets.

Why they chose Orbit:

Converge needed customizable infrastructure with institutional-grade performance, gas token flexibility, and security guarantees aligned with Ethereum. Orbit enabled them to deploy a Rollup L2 with advanced account abstraction, cross-language contract support, and high-throughput execution, while retaining access to Arbitrum’s composability and trust-minimized environment.

Design decisions and performance highlights:

• Rollup L2 with <100ms block times (targeting <50ms in Q4 2025)

• Optimized Conduit G2 sequencer and mini-block streaming

• Native gas tokens: USDe and USDtb, with optional ETH via paymasters

• Account abstraction via ERC-7702 (programmable session keys, wallet compatibility)

• Supports smart contracts in Solidity, C++, and Rust — with up to 70x faster execution

• Converge Validator Network (CVN) powered by staked sENA for institutional safeguards

• Permissioned RWA/DeFi support alongside permissionless digital assets

Traction and roadmap:

• Launched in collaboration with Ethena and Securitize

• Initial focus on RWA tokenization, institutional DeFi rails, and stablecoin liquidity

• Roadmap includes <50ms finality, further Stylus optimization, and expanded asset support

• Interoperability with Ethereum, Solana, and Arbitrum ecosystems via stablecoin + RWA bridging

Converge demonstrates how Orbit can support high-speed, institutionally compliant rollups that bring real-world value and capital onto Arbitrum infrastructure.

3.1.4 SX Bet (Custom L2)

What it does:

SX Bet is a non-custodial, peer-to-peer prediction market where users can offer and accept bets without intermediaries. It enables fairer odds and higher payout efficiency by removing the margin capture of centralized sportsbooks.

Why they chose Orbit:

SX Bet needed full control over infrastructure to support rapid bet resolution, high-frequency trading, and transparent settlement. Orbit allowed them to launch a custom chain, retaining Ethereum security while optimizing for betting logic and UX.

Design decisions and performance highlights:

• Custom-built EVM-compatible L2 with native bet resolution

• Settlement on Ethereum for trust minimization

• UX optimized for fast betting flow and resolution

• Over 3 million bets processed, with $500 million+ in volume

• Orbit infra enables dynamic fee control and onchain matching logic

Traction and roadmap:

• $10 million+ bridged within two months of launch

• Active Polymarket integration for multi-market exposure

• Expanding categories and partner markets for Q3 2025

SX Bet shows how Orbit Chains unlock purpose-built infrastructure for verticals like prediction markets, without compromising trust or composability.

Chain info:

3.2 Gaming

3.2.1 Sanko (L3 via Caldera)

What it does:

Sanko is an L3 Orbit Chain built to serve as the foundation of a fully interoperable gaming universe. It enables low-cost, high-speed gameplay and supports the development of modular in-game economies across a growing suite of titles. The Sanko chain acts as an ecosystem hub, allowing all games to interoperate and share infrastructure, assets, and tooling.

Why they chose Orbit:

Sanko wanted an L3 chain where all its games could share liquidity and back-end logic, with performance optimizations not possible on general-purpose chains. Orbit provided the freedom to build custom game infrastructure, virtual machines, and token logic while remaining anchored to Arbitrum One.

Design decisions and performance highlights:

• L3 Orbit Chain launched via Caldera, settling on Arbitrum One

• Low transaction fees and fast finality

• Supports development in multiple languages (EVM + WebAssembly)

• Built-in tooling for game development and asset creation

• Native token DMT launched as an OFT via LayerZero

Traction and roadmap:

• First Orbit gaming chain live since May 2024

• Interoperable game ecosystem in production

• DMT token launched early 2025

• Recent deposit slowdowns attributed to broader market downturn

Sanko illustrates how Orbit enables integrated gaming environments with composable economies and shared infrastructure.

3.2.2 Proof of Play (Apex & Boss L3s)

What it does:

Proof of Play is the gaming studio behind Pirate Nation, one of the most popular and successful onchain games in Web3. Pirate Nation is a pirate-themed RPG where players can sail the seas, trade assets, engage in PvP battles, and build out their in-game economies — all while remaining largely unaware they are interacting with blockchain infrastructure. Rather than emphasizing Web3 mechanics, the game is built around seamless gameplay, with blockchain integrated invisibly in the background.

Why they chose Orbit:

The decision to move to Orbit wasn’t driven by ideology — it was driven by scale. Pirate Nation originally launched on Arbitrum Nova, but their success became a constraint: the volume of daily transactions was overwhelming shared blockspace, leading to performance issues. Given the prospect of continued growth, Proof of Play needed dedicated infrastructure with full control over throughput, pricing, and resource allocation.

General-purpose chains couldn’t meet those needs. Orbit allowed them to spin up purpose-built L3s, Apex and Boss, that maintain Arbitrum’s security guarantees while offering the sovereignty and performance essential to a live gaming environment.

Design decisions and performance highlights:

• Two parallel L3 Orbit Chains (Apex & Boss), both settling on Arbitrum One

• Chains optimized for load balancing and parallel execution

• Fully custom infrastructure for consistent speed and pricing

• UX-first design — blockchain is intentionally invisible to players

• Native gas token and gated-access mechanics in development

• Slight slowdown in bridge deposits, attributed to broader market conditions

Traction and roadmap:

• Among the most active Orbit deployments by gas consumption

• Large-scale migration of assets and players from Nova

• Roadmap includes additional games, modular infrastructure layers, and DAO-enabled governance

  

Proof of Play illustrates the real-world need for app-specific chains — and how Orbit delivers scalability without compromising on UX, security, or composability

Apex chain info:

Boss chain info:

3.3 AI & DePin

3.3.1 CapX (Rollup L2)

CapX is a Rollup Orbit Chain designed specifically for the AI and DePIN vertical. Its core goal is to streamline the creation, deployment, and monetization of onchain AI agents — providing infrastructure tailored to the next generation of decentralized applications powered by machine intelligence.

• CapX Chain: An L2 Orbit Chain optimized for building and managing AI agents onchain

• CapX Super App: A consumer-facing interface that allows users to browse, deploy, and trade AI agents

• CapX Cloud: A decentralized network for deploying applications that leverage AI agents natively

Why they chose Orbit:

CapX wanted full-stack control over execution, gas pricing, and custom agent frameworks, while preserving Ethereum trust assumptions. Orbit provided the perfect foundation to launch a specialized chain that supports fast experimentation, native AI monetization, and seamless integration with DePIN tools.

Orbit also gave CapX flexibility in choosing its settlement path (Ethereum) and modular access to Arbitrum-native tooling, including bridges, RPC providers, and RaaS platforms.

Design decisions and performance highlights:

• Rollup Orbit Chain settling on Ethereum

• Purpose-built execution logic for AI training and inference

• Modular backend connecting agent infrastructure with dApps

• Built-in marketplace and agent registry via CapX Super App

• Currently deployed on testnet for iterative product development

Here are some analytics taken from their explorer:

Traction and roadmap:

• CapX Chain is live on testnet

• Recently announced funding raise: CapX raise announcement

• CapX Explorer showing active onchain deployment of AI agents

• Mainnet launch planned in phased rollout

• Ecosystem positioning itself to capture Ethereum-native AI + DePIN demand, where Arbitrum has historically lagged

Chain info:

CapX is a strong example of how Orbit allows teams to build category-defining infrastructure, offering AI and DePIN developers the modularity, performance, and sovereignty they can’t find on generalized L2s.

3.4 NFTs

Arbitrum Orbits have attracted particular interest from NFT projects. Among those, some of the most established ones have chosen to build on Arbitrum. 

3.4.1 ApeChain (L3 via Arbitrum One)

What it does:

ApeChain is an L3 Orbit Chain purpose-built for the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and its wider ecosystem. It provides a dedicated home for BAYC-related experiences, combining NFT infrastructure, content creation, and mini-game deployment within a single chain.

Although categorized under NFTs, ApeChain is inherently multi-modal, acting as a launchpad for gaming, metaverse extensions, and community-owned tooling. It powers the next phase of the Otherside metaverse and deepens ecosystem utility around the $APE token.

Why they chose Orbit:

The BAYC community needed an execution environment that could offer custom infrastructure, consistent UX, and low fees without giving up security. Orbit enabled Yuga Labs and its contributors to launch an L3 that maintained close alignment with Ethereum while unlocking the freedom to tailor gas tokens, dev tools, and infrastructure.

The goal was to go beyond “an NFT chain” and create a sovereign ecosystem capable of hosting games, tools, and NFT-native mechanics.

While we have placed ApeChain in the NFT Category, it also fits the Gaming category, as a substantial part of their focus is on deploying mini-games within the broader Otherside Metaverse.

Design decisions and performance highlights:

• L3 Orbit Chain settling on Arbitrum One

• Uses $APE as the native gas token

• Built to support three pillars: content creation, tool development, and distribution

• Strong emphasis on developer tooling and modular infrastructure

• Mini-games within Otherside metaverse are deployed directly on-chain

Traction and roadmap:

• Key NFT infrastructure now migrated to ApeChain

• Gaming layer and $APE integrations ongoing

• Increasing use of Orbit infra for metaverse-native deployments

• Positioned to become the default home for BAYC ecosystem apps and community-led initiatives

Chain info:

ApeChain shows how NFT-native communities can evolve into full-stack ecosystems — using Orbit to scale beyond collectibles and into infrastructure, gaming, and distribution.

3.4.2 RariChain (AnyTrust L3)

What it does:

RariChain is an L3 Orbit Chain launched by the Rarible Foundation, built to support creators, collectors, and NFT developers with native infrastructure optimized for onchain marketplaces. The chain is specifically designed to enforce royalty logic at the protocol level, ensuring creators retain monetization rights — even as liquidity fragments across chains.

Why they chose Orbit:

Rarible wanted a customizable, lightweight chain that could serve as a sandbox for protocol-level innovation around NFTs. Orbit allowed them to launch an L3 with low costs, fast finality, and an open framework for supporting NFT creators, marketplaces, and tooling projects.

By building on Orbit, Rarible was able to define its own royalty logic and seamlessly connect with its broader ecosystem across Ethereum and other chains. More information about on all the core features can be found here.

Design decisions and performance highlights:

• AnyTrust L3 settling on Arbitrum One

• Built with Caldera as Rollup-as-a-Service (RaaS) provider

• Cross-chain interoperability via Relay Protocol

• Creator-friendly tooling and royalty enforcement at the base layer

• Positioned as an onboarding hub for NFT projects expanding from Ethereum

Traction and roadmap:

• Bridge activity shows steady deposits since launch

• Expanding creator toolkit and marketplace integrations

• Playing a foundational role in the NFT-to-appchain transition for established projects

Rarichain chain info:

RariChain highlights how Orbit enables NFT projects to move beyond marketplaces, providing sovereign infrastructure that enforces creator rights and expands ecosystem utility.

3.4.3 AnimeChain (L3 via Arbitrum One)

What it does:

AnimeChain is an L3 Orbit Chain designed for the anime community, enabling on-chain creation, licensing, and monetization of anime content and NFTs. It integrates AI-powered production tools and community governance into a unified Web3-native platform, bridging fans, creators, and studios.

Why they chose Orbit:

Orbit provides the scalability and customizability AnimeChain needs to support high-volume activity, including NFT minting, microtransactions, and AI-powered creation, while retaining Ethereum alignment. With fast finality, gasless onboarding, and EVM compatibility, Orbit was the ideal stack for scaling the anime fandom onchain.

Design decisions and performance highlights:

• L3 Orbit Chain built on Arbitrum Nitro

• 40,000 TPS with 250ms block times

• Integrated AI tools for animation, character design, and content generation

• Gasless onboarding and Web2-friendly UX

• Transparent rights management and royalty distribution

• Strategic integrations with Azuki, Anime.com, and the Web3 Foundation

Traction and roadmap:

• 3.3M wallets onboarded, 13.6M NFTs minted (as of March 2025)

• $ANIME token launched Jan 2025 (10B supply, 50.5% community)

• Major IP partnerships (e.g., Fate/stay night)

• Roadmap includes AI tooling upgrades, global creator grants, streaming integrations, and governance via AnimeDAO

AnimeChain blends anime fandom, AI-powered content tools, and modular blockchain architecture — creating a scalable, creator-first platform for Web3-native storytelling and IP.

3.5 Infrastructure & Tools

3.5.1 Everclear (Rollup L2)

What it does:

Everclear is an L2 Orbit Chain focused on solving cross-chain liquidity fragmentation. It acts as a universal clearing layer, enabling solvers, CEXs, and bridging protocols to rebalance liquidity efficiently across multiple networks.

By netting settlements and coordinating liquidity flows, Everclear reduces redundancy and cost, making it an essential piece of the chain abstraction stack.

Why they chose Orbit:

Everclear needed full control over execution logic, solver coordination, and trust assumptions — all while remaining anchored to Ethereum security. Orbit allowed them to build a bespoke clearing infrastructure while accessing fast, low-cost settlement and integration with Arbitrum-native tooling.

How it works:

Everclear uses an intent-based settlement model:

• Users express an intent (e.g. to swap or transfer assets cross-chain)

• Solvers compete in auctions to fulfill the request efficiently

• Netting mechanisms reduce execution cost by batching and coordinating liquidity flows across chains

Design decisions and performance highlights:

• Rollup L2 settling directly on Ethereum

• Intent-based settlement using solver auctions

• Liquidity netting and rebalance logic baked into protocol design

• Optimized for CEXs, bridges, and dApps needing coordinated liquidity movement

• Plays a key backend role in enabling seamless cross-chain UX

Traction and roadmap:

• Launched late 2024

• Reached $100M+ in monthly USD volume by March 2025

• Integrated with major bridges and solver networks

• Continuing to expand coordination mechanisms across EVM and non-EVM chains

Chain info:

Everclear shows how Orbit can power specialized backend infrastructure helping abstract away liquidity complexity in a modular, trust-minimized way.

3.5.2. EDU Chain

EDU Chain is an L3 Orbit Chain developed by Open Campus, focused on transforming education through blockchain-based infrastructure. It aims to decentralize access to learning and credentialing via a Learn, Own, Earn model which enables educators, learners, and platforms to participate in a shared, token-incentivized ecosystem.

EDU Chain provides infrastructure for educational dApps, credentialing systems, tokenized rewards, and more, helping create a globally accessible, verifiable education stack.

Why they chose Orbit:

Open Campus required a chain that could support a large number of users and partners at low cost, with the flexibility to define their own governance and token models. Orbit’s AnyTrust model allowed them to launch a cost-efficient chain with scalable throughput, while still inheriting Arbitrum security and plugging into its broader ecosystem.

Design decisions and performance highlights:

• AnyTrust L3 built on Arbitrum One

• Developed and operated by Open Campus

• Supports verifiable credentials, NFT certificates, and token rewards

• Built for global accessibility: low gas costs and Web2-friendly UX

• Backed by a network of 140+ educational partners

Traction and roadmap:

Mainnet live since January 2025

Integrations with schools, universities, and edtech platforms underway

Launching token-based reward mechanisms and proof-of-learning systems

Aims to be the default infrastructure for decentralized education initiatives

Chain info:

EDU Chain shows how Orbit can unlock entirely new verticals, bringing decentralized infrastructure to global education in a scalable, cost-efficient, and modular format.

4. Future Roadmap and Food for Thought

The diversity of chains launched through Orbit, across DeFi, gaming, AI, NFTs, and other sectors, underscores the modularity of the framework and its ability to serve distinct needs across various verticals. Orbit Chains are no longer experimental; they’re powering production-grade infrastructure.

But as the ecosystem grows, so do its coordination challenges.

One of Orbit’s core challenges is interoperability. Despite sharing the same stack, most Orbit Chains still operate in silos, lacking standard messaging, unified UX, or native composability. Users are forced to switch networks manually, and developers often duplicate integrations across deployments.

This fragmentation undermines the network effects that Orbit can generate.

Chain abstraction is now emerging as a central theme for Orbit’s evolution. The vision is clear: Orbit Chains should feel like parts of a unified ecosystem, not isolated deployments. This shift is already underway, with community proposals on the Arbitrum forum having called for a comprehensive chain abstraction package to address growing UX and coordination gaps.

While Orbit adoption is growing, the user experience still feels disconnected. The UX across chains remains inconsistent, and Orbit apps rarely feel interoperable out of the box. Now’s the moment for Arbitrum to respond.

As other ecosystems begin rolling out seamless chain-switching and unified standards, users will come to expect the same from Orbit. And they should.

Offchain Labs and the Arbitrum Foundation are working to solve this, laying the groundwork for a more connected and composable Orbit landscape and leading the charge to boost the user experience and ensure further interoperability between Arbitrum Chains.

As part of it, they have unveiled their plans for a Crosschain Broadcaster Standard to reduce fragmentation across Arbitrum chains by implementing secure, standard, and seamless communication. It does so by implementing a trustless messaging standard that is agnostic across rollups, using onchain proofs rooted in Ethereum instead of trusting offchain actors.

This is part of a broader Interoperability Campaign coordinated by the Arbitrum Foundation and Offchain Labs. Key components include:

• A Universal Intent Engine, developed with support from the Ethereum Foundation and other L2s, enabling sub-3s cross-chain actions

• A Solver Loan Program (SLP) to provide liquidity for fulfilling intents

• Tooling to activate Fast Withdrawals, enable multi-RPC support, and broadcast intents across chains

• A phased rollout prioritizing pilot apps and chains before ecosystem-wide support

Given the complexity of onboarding dozens of chains at once, the rollout is intentionally staged. Smart contracts are being developed to allow Orbit teams to activate transfer routes themselves, reducing reliance on centralized onboarding and enabling permissionless interop over time.

The ability for users to interact with various chains without needing to understand the underlying infrastructure will be a significant milestone. Yet these challenges remain, including ensuring consistent security across diverse Orbit chains and maintaining seamless interoperability. Only then will they truly become a seamless addition to the Arbitrum ecosystem.

Looking forward, ZK-based infrastructure is another key area of development. Arbitrum’s roadmap includes future support for zero-knowledge proofs to enhance privacy, settlement efficiency, and cross-chain trust minimization, unlocking use cases in DeFi, compliance, and identity.

Nonetheless, the potential of Arbitrum Orbits to provide customization, sovereignty, and scalability, while maintaining a high level of security, positions them as a valuable tool for developers to deploy sovereign blockchains.

By combining the security and performance of the Arbitrum stack with the flexibility of customizable chain configurations, Orbits are poised to play a crucial role in realizing the vision of a truly interconnected and decentralized Arbitrum network.

Grants are also available. In collaboration with Alchemy, the Arbitrum Foundation has launched a $10M grant program to support Orbit Chain development. Teams can receive up to $500K to:

• Launch a new Orbit Chain

• Migrate from another network

• Build applications on Orbit

• Deploy a sequencer using Arbitrum infrastructure

There’s still over $3m available, make sure to apply if you are a builder. 

5. Conclusion: The Dawn of Sovereign Blockchains

Arbitrum Orbit Chains enable projects to launch custom, sovereign blockchains tailored to their specific needs, while still reaping the benefits of the security, performance, and decentralization of the broader Arbitrum stack.

Throughout this report, we’ve explored a wide range of Orbit deployments — from DeFi to gaming, AI, NFTs, and beyond. Each case study reveals how teams are leveraging Orbit not just to launch faster or cheaper, but to design ecosystems that are uniquely theirs: app-specific, performance-optimized, and fully composable.

In many cases, Orbit has enabled projects to scale in ways that general-purpose chains cannot. For example, Proof of Play used Orbit to overcome throughput ceilings and infrastructure constraints that emerged as Pirate Nation grew. Others, like Corn and Everclear, used Orbit to experiment with new asset classes or backend coordination logic. These stories showcase the flexibility Orbit offers to builders working at the edge of design space.

Nonetheless, there is a strong need to ensure that these chains are interconnected and interoperable, improving the users' experience. A fragmented navigational experience, in fact, reduces the network effect of Arbitrum Chains, one of its main value propositions.

Only once they become seamless will it become evident how they are not standalone implementations but part of a broader ecosystem.

That’s why current efforts from Offchain Labs to enable trustless messaging, chain abstraction, and intent-based interoperability are so critical. If successful, these upgrades will shift Orbit from a collection of sovereign deployments to a seamlessly interconnected ecosystem — one where sovereignty and cohesion reinforce each other, rather than compete.

Until then, Arbitrum has a clear path forward:

Continue onboarding protocols that require the flexibility and control Orbit can provide

Expand awareness of Orbit’s modular potential across verticals

Position Arbitrum Chains not just as alternatives, but as infrastructure for category-defining applications

Arbitrum Orbit is no longer an experiment. It’s a movement toward chains that are purpose-built, sovereign by design, and increasingly unified. The next era of blockchain won’t be dominated by one chain, it will be powered by many, working together. Orbit is how we get there.

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The Castle