Arbitrum (ARB) maintains its lead as the dominant optimistic rollup on Ethereum by Total Value Locked (TVL) as of February 16, 2026. The network hosts a thriving ecosystem of decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and perpetual trading platforms that prefer Arbitrum for its high liquidity and established developer tooling. The ARB token, used primarily for governance, has seen increased distribution and utility as the DAO matures, voting on key initiatives to incentivize growth and fund developer grants. The launch of Arbitrum Stylus, allowing developers to write smart contracts in languages like Rust and C++, has expanded the developer base significantly, bringing new types of applications to the chain. Despite the release of tokens from early investors, the market has absorbed the supply reasonably well, indicating strong demand for exposure to the leading L2. Traders are monitoring the incentive programs approved by the DAO, as these emissions often drive short-term liquidity cycles within the Arbitrum ecosystem. The chart shows ARB respecting a long-term uptrend line, mirroring the growth of Ethereum usage overall.