Arbitrum Proposal Would Reopen Stylus Activations With Foundation Sign-Off

ArbitrumDAO is considering a constitutional proposal, posted Oct. 23, 2026, to reopen new Stylus contract activations on Arbitrum One through a security audit and a valid activation signature from an Arbitrum Foundation-controlled multisig.

The plan would let developers activate new code again, but make launches and code updates dependent on auditors and the Foundation. Submissions would have no fixed turnaround time.

Stylus lets developers write smart contracts in languages such as Rust. Unlike conventional Ethereum Virtual Machine contracts, Stylus code needs a separate activation step before it can run. Deployment itself would remain open to anyone.

The Security Council paused new activations on Oct. 2. Its emergency report said hand-crafted WebAssembly (WASM) programs could degrade chain performance, and that known Stylus bugs primarily threatened the network’s ability to keep operating rather than user funds.

Who Would Control Activation

Under the proposal, an Arbitrum Security Program auditor would review submitted code, rebuild it with the standard Stylus toolchain and check that it matches the deployed code. The auditor would post a pass or fail result on the governance forum. A passing result, subject to the proposal’s submission conditions, would lead to a Foundation signature; the developer would then submit the activation transaction through a new Stylus Activation Contract.

The limited audit would focus on threats to the Arbitrum network, not the application’s business logic. The Foundation would rely on the auditor’s result rather than perform its own security assessment.

The activation contract would temporarily lower the gas requirement that enforces the freeze, activate approved code and restore the restriction within one transaction. The proposal uses existing ArbOS 61 capabilities and would not require an ArbOS upgrade.

Already-active contracts would remain callable by anyone, and anyone could renew them through the existing keepalive mechanism. New or upgraded code, and reactivation after expiry or a Stylus version change, would require the audit-and-signature process.

The Foundation would manage its multisig signers, but the DAO would remain the activation contract’s sole administrator and could change or revoke the delegation through a later constitutional vote. The signing mandate would have no automatic expiry. The proposal would not give the Foundation power to deactivate an activated contract.

The AIP applies only to Arbitrum One, not Nova. It says Arbitrum Sepolia is outside its scope but would follow the same audit-and-signature process.

The proposed sequence calls for a Snapshot temperature check before an onchain vote. The multisig address and signer configuration, contract code, governance payload and a Trail of Bits audit report on the activation contract are due before that vote. New activations would remain paused until governance execution and operational readiness.