The program, structured by Entropy and powered by Merkl, will be managed by Entropy Advisors under the direction of ArbitrumDAO. According to the blockchain network, roughly 80 million ARB tokens have been earmarked for incentives across four distinct “seasons,” each focusing on a different corner of DeFi.
The first season, which runs from Sept. 3, 2025, through Jan. 20, 2026, prioritizes looping leverage on lending markets.
During this phase, users can earn up to 24 million ARB in rewards by borrowing against yield-bearing ETH and stablecoin assets on approved platforms.
The incentive scheme arrives at a time when competition among Ethereum scaling solutions is accelerating.
These numbers reflect how Ethereum’s broader layer-2 ecosystem is maturing quickly, with networks competing to attract developers, users, and liquidity at scale.
The Foundation described EIL as a way to give users the experience of “one Ethereum” while preserving its core principles, including censorship resistance, privacy, and open-source development.