In 2025, bot-driven transfers on Ethereum mainnet (L1) accounted for 57% of stablecoin volume and 31% of stablecoin transactions in May.

According to a report released by CEX.io on June 4, bots executed over 4.84 million transfers—more than $480 billion in value—marking an 11% rise in bot activity year-to-date.

This rise helped Ethereum L1 reclaim market share from Layer 2 networks (L2s), reversing last year’s trend. In 2025, Ethereum’s stablecoin market cap on L1 grew by 11%, while combined L2 stablecoin caps fell by 1%

Ethereum Low Gas Fees Drive Bot Increase

A 92% drop in average mainnet fees early this year underpinned the bot influx. Gas prices on Ethereum L1 hovered below 1 gwei in March and April.

That makes stablecoin transfers on L1 more cost-effective than on competing chains and some L2s, per the report. Stablecoin transfers, being highly fee-sensitive, naturally gravitated back to mainnet.

Following the Pectra upgrade in early May, fees spiked above 5 gwei. As a result, this caused an 8% drop in total stablecoin transaction volume and a $1 billion decrease in stablecoin market cap on L1.

Despite that pullback, L1 retained the larger share of new bot activity due to momentum from the low-fee period.

According to CEX.io, Ethereum L1 processed over 30 million stablecoin transactions so far in 2025, up from roughly 23 million by the same point in 2024.

This lifted L1’s share of transaction count within the Ethereum ecosystem to 42%, compared with 22% during 2022–2024. Meanwhile, L2 networks collectively saw only 58% of total transaction count, down from 78% a year ago.

On market cap, L1’s stablecoin holdings rose 11% this year, reversing a 65% increase in 2024 when L2s surged by 218%.

Optimism lost $700 million in stablecoin supply in 2025—the steepest drop among L2s—while Arbitrum and Polygon zkEVM saw modest declines.

DEX Volume Trend: Stablecoins Take Lead

Bots also reshaped decentralized exchange (DEX) dynamics on Ethereum. CEX.io data shows stablecoin swaps held the top spot in DEX volume for April (37%) and May (32%)—the first time stablecoins topped all other categories consecutively.

In contrast, 2024 saw most DEX volume driven by token speculation. Among stablecoins, USDT and USDC dominated swap activity.

In March and April, USDC briefly became the most traded asset on Ethereum DEXs. Over 2025 to date, tokenized assets surged 284% in DEX volume, while stablecoin swaps rose 31%.

Through May 2025, the Ethereum ecosystem (L1 + L2s) processed over $11 trillion in stablecoin transaction volume—triple the $3.7 trillion seen in the same period of 2024.

Consequently, Ethereum’s share of global stablecoin volume reached 60%, up from 40% in 2024. This indicates stablecoin activity has migrated back to Ethereum from other L1 networks and L2s.

On a monthly basis, L1 and L2 transaction volumes are nearly split 50/50 within the Ethereum ecosystem. L1 reclaimed dominance beginning in March 2025 when low gas fees prevailed.

Market Implications and Outlook

CEX.io’s report shows bots can enhance market efficiency and drive stablecoin adoption when fees remain low. Automated swaps and arbitrage helped restore liquidity on L1 and shifted DeFi activity from L2s.

However, L1 faces a risk: if fees stay above 5 gwei, stablecoin users may migrate back to L2s or alternative networks. The Pectra upgrade demonstrated how quickly stablecoin volume can dip with rising fees.

Moving forward, maintaining sub-1 gwei or low-fee conditions will be vital for Ethereum L1 to expand its stablecoin market share.

For now, bots and lower fees have realigned the network’s on-chain economy toward utility and payment-focused use cases. If L1 can sustain these conditions, its reclaimed market share could solidify further in the stablecoin sector.

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