LG builds Arbitrum layer-2 ad platform to bypass intermediaries

LG Electronics has developed a custom layer-2 blockchain on Arbitrum to automate digital ad placement, buying, selling and management without intermediaries. The company completed a pilot with a Japanese advertising agency and is assessing a possible market launch later this year.

The platform runs as a custom layer-2 network on Arbitrum and is designed to execute ad transactions and market operations through software. LG says the system can handle automated placement, programmatic buying and selling across digital channels and manage ad inventory without manual interventions.

Samuel Byungsun Park, leader of LG’s blockchain research department, framed the project as an evaluation of whether a chain-based approach can deliver measurable value to advertisers, publishers and audiences. The company has not provided a firm launch date beyond saying it is considering a commercial rollout later this year.

Arbitrum co-founder Steven Goldfeder described the technology’s role: ‘You don’t need manual interventions,’ and noted that trading and settlement can be handled automatically by software running on the chain. After the partnership became public, the Arbitrum native token ARB rose roughly 5% on crypto price feeds.

LG plans to link the platform with LG Ad Solutions, its advertising unit that serves a global smart TV installed base of about 216 million units, including roughly 49 million in the United States. LG says the blockchain layer would let advertisers and publishers trade and allocate ad inventory without relying on the traditional intermediaries used in digital ad supply chains.

The project follows earlier enterprise blockchain work at the company. LG’s IT services arm launched an enterprise platform called Monachain in 2018, and LG previously operated an NFT marketplace that was later closed. Other large firms have built blockchain systems for supply chain tracking, token-based settlement and payment rails, sometimes settling on public or layer-2 chains instead of permissioned ledgers.

LG has not released detailed technical specifications, fee structures or partner-onboarding plans for the ad platform. The company also did not provide estimates of cost savings or performance results from the pilot. Further decisions on commercialization will depend on additional testing and evaluations with advertisers and publishers.