WETH on Arbitrum is the wrapped-ETH contract at 0x82aF49447D8a07e3bd95BD0d56f35241523fBab1 on Arbitrum One: it holds Arbitrum’s ETH 1:1 and is also where the Arbitrum bridge re-wraps WETH that arrives from Ethereum. On October 2, 2026 it held 104,962 WETH for 419,605 holders (Arbitrum RPC read, Arbiscan), and a wrap cost 0.00000119 ETH, an unwrap 0.00000091 ETH on September 29, 2026 (Arbiscan). The rule to keep: WETH on Arbitrum is a separate token from WETH on Ethereum, with its own address, its own balance and its own way back to mainnet.
- Address: 0x82aF49447D8a07e3bd95BD0d56f35241523fBab1 on Arbitrum One; not 0xC02a...56Cc2 (Ethereum) and not 0x4200...0006 (Base, Optimism).
- Cost: the cheapest Ethereum deposit of September 29, 2026 (0.00002948 ETH) was 25 times the Arbitrum deposit (0.00000119 ETH); the cheapest Base deposit (0.00000017 ETH) was 7 times cheaper again (Etherscan, Arbiscan, Basescan).
- Usage: 104,962 WETH / 419,605 holders = 0.25 WETH per address, between Ethereum's 0.61 and Base's 0.05; more than 756,997,552 transfers over the contract's life, about 1,800 per holder (Arbiscan, October 2, 2026).
- Exit time: the official bridge back to Ethereum takes at least seven days; deposits from Ethereum arrive in roughly 15-30 minutes (docs.arbitrum.io).
What WETH on Arbitrum Is
WETH on Arbitrum is an ERC-20 token that holds ETH on Arbitrum One at a fixed 1:1 ratio, at 0x82aF49447D8a07e3bd95BD0d56f35241523fBab1. Like WETH9 on Ethereum it has deposit() and withdraw(), listed as Wrap and Unwrap on Arbiscan, so ETH you hold on Arbitrum can be wrapped and unwrapped there directly.
It also has a second job. When WETH is bridged from Ethereum through Arbitrum’s token bridge, the WETH gateway unwraps it on Ethereum, moves the ETH across, and re-wraps it on Arbitrum (docs.arbitrum.io). So WETH that arrives through the official bridge lands in this same contract, not in a separate “bridged WETH” token. Both routes end with one WETH on Arbitrum backed by one ETH on Arbitrum.
WETH on Arbitrum vs Ethereum vs Base
The three contracts share the 1:1 peg and nothing else. Supplies are on-chain reads on October 2, 2026; holders are explorer figures (Base from September 20, 2026); fees are from September 29, 2026.
| Parameter | Ethereum mainnet | Arbitrum One | Base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract | 0xC02a…56Cc2 | 0x82aF…Bab1 | 0x4200…0006 |
| WETH outstanding | 2,031,131 | 104,962 | 257,880 |
| Holders | 3,322,783 | 419,605 | 5,055,519 |
| WETH per holder | 0.61 | 0.25 | 0.05 |
| Wrap (deposit) fee | 0.00002948-0.00013946 ETH | 0.00000119 ETH | 0.00000017-0.00000049 ETH |
| Unwrap (withdraw) fee | 0.00003399-0.00007576 ETH | 0.00000091 ETH | 0.00000016-0.00000038 ETH |
| Gas token | ETH | ETH | ETH |
| Way to Ethereum | - | Arbitrum bridge, 7+ days | OP Stack bridge, 7 days |
Arbitrum sits between the other two on every axis: larger positions than Base, far smaller than mainnet, and fees about 25 times lower than Ethereum’s on the same day. WETH on Base covers the Base column in detail.
Where Arbitrum Sits Among WETH Networks
Arbitrum’s WETH is small next to Ethereum’s and mid-sized next to Base’s. Its 104,962 WETH is 5.2% of the 2,031,131 WETH on Ethereum (104,962 / 2,031,131), while Base’s 257,880 is 12.7% (on-chain reads, October 2, 2026). By holders the order flips: Base counts 5,055,519 addresses, Arbitrum 419,605, so Base has 12 times the holders with 2.5 times the WETH. The result is the per-holder figure in the table above - 0.25 WETH on Arbitrum against 0.05 on Base - Arbitrum’s WETH is held in fewer, larger balances, closer to how WETH is used on mainnet.
Activity is high for that size. More than 756,997,552 transfers have passed through the Arbitrum contract over its life (Arbiscan, October 2, 2026), roughly 1,800 per current holder, WETH on Arbitrum is a token that moves far more than it rests.
How to Get WETH on Arbitrum
- Wrap ETH you already hold on Arbitrum: call deposit() on 0x82aF…Bab1 (how WETH works), from a wallet’s Wrap action, a DEX with ETH -> WETH selected, or Arbiscan’s Write Contract tab (how to wrap ETH).
- Bridge WETH or ETH from Ethereum: the Arbitrum bridge delivers in roughly 15-30 minutes; WETH is unwrapped on Ethereum and re-wrapped on Arbitrum by the WETH gateway, and ETH arrives as native ETH that you can wrap after (docs.arbitrum.io).
- Swap another token for WETH on Arbitrum: any Arbitrum DEX with a WETH pair converts USDC, USDT or other tokens directly.
- Swap in from another network: a cross-chain swap delivers WETH or ETH on Arbitrum from an asset on another chain in one step. Gem Wallet, for example, routes cross-chain swaps through its built-in aggregator, so an asset on another network can arrive as WETH or ETH on Arbitrum without a separate bridge step.
Whichever route you take, keep a little ETH on Arbitrum unwrapped: every later transaction there, including the unwrap, is paid in ETH (WETH and gas).
How to Verify the WETH Address on Arbitrum
- Compare with the address list: the contract addresses table on the home page lists 0x82aF49447D8a07e3bd95BD0d56f35241523fBab1 for Arbitrum One.
- Open it on Arbiscan: the token page shows the name Wrapped Ether, symbol WETH, 18 decimals and hundreds of thousands of holders; a copy with the same name has a different address and a handful of holders.
- Check the network in the wallet: the address is only meaningful on Arbitrum One; on Ethereum or Base the same string points to nothing or to an unrelated contract.
What WETH on Arbitrum Cannot Do
- It cannot be sent to Ethereum as a token: moving it to mainnet goes through a bridge, which unwraps and re-wraps, or through a cross-chain swap.
- It cannot pay Arbitrum gas: fees on Arbitrum are charged in ETH.
- It cannot be unwrapped on Ethereum: withdraw() on Arbitrum returns ETH on Arbitrum; mainnet ETH comes only after a bridge withdrawal (how to unwrap WETH).
- It cannot be credited as Ethereum WETH by an exchange: deposit it only to an exchange address that lists Arbitrum One as the network.