Arbitrum watchdog proposes permanent bans for three grant recipients
Arbitrum (ARB)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
cryptobriefing.com reports that the Arbitrum Watchdog Committee has recommended permanent bans for Good Entry, Limitless, and APX Finance due to alleged misuse of DAO funds. The oversight body found evidence that these three projects misused approximately 457,553 ARB across the Short-Term Incentive Program and the Long-Term Incentive Pilot Program. Good Entry is accused of distributing 142,839 ARB to ineligible users and engaging in team-linked farming, while Limitless moved 75,000 ARB into USDC and off the Arbitrum network to Base.
APX Finance faces the heaviest allegations, with 239,714 ARB linked to unreturned funds and suspected Sybil activity. If approved, these bans would exclude the projects, their founders, and affiliates from all future DAO-funded programs. The accused teams have until September 10, 2026, to respond via the governance forum before Snapshot votes formalize the exclusions.
The Watchdog Committee, launched in September 2025, operates as an internal bounty program where confirmed misuse cases generate rewards for whistleblowers. Since its inception, the committee has processed around 90 reports, recovering approximately 532,000 ARB and paying out roughly 268,000 ARB in rewards. This enforcement mechanism combines community incentives with binding governance procedures to ensure accountability for distributed capital.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for ARB, measured when this story was written up on 9 September 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
ARB is trading at $0.1650 with a 24-hour buy ratio of 50.5%, indicating a balanced market where buyers and sellers are in equilibrium. In the shorter term, the 1-hour buy ratio dropped to 48.1% against a 4-hour ratio of 51.4%, suggesting that immediate buying pressure is fading relative to the broader daily trend. Volume delta reflects this shift, showing a net outflow of $141,278 in the last hour compared to a net inflow of $318,754 over the past four hours. The cumulative volume delta over 24 hours remains positive at $322,046, but the negative cumulative volume delta (CVD) of -$3,616,032 indicates that larger trades have been predominantly selling pressure. Despite the intraday sell-off, the market has seen net buying for 10 of the last 24 hours, with total spot volume reaching $32,588,854.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.4% sits at the 8th percentile of the last 324 days, against a median of 49.6% - among the weakest buying days it has had.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for ARB, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, ARB experienced a significant price increase of 49.5% over eight days, driven by a total volume delta of +$8,594,298. Today’s 24-hour spot volume of $32,588,854 represents 0.58 times the weekly average, indicating a notably quieter trading day compared to the recent surge. The current 24-hour buy ratio of 50.5% aligns perfectly with the 7-day average of 50.6%, showing that market sentiment has stabilized after the recent volatility. While the price action remains bullish, the reduced volume suggests that this is an ordinary consolidation day rather than a continuation of the previous week's intense activity. Net buying occurred on 4 of the last 7 days, confirming that the upward trend is sustained but currently pausing in volume intensity.