Ethereum Surges with $480B Bot-Driven Stablecoin Volume

- Ethereum's mainnet experienced a significant resurgence in the DeFi market. - Bot-driven stablecoin activity reached a record high volume of $480 billion in May 2025. On June 5, 2025, Cointelegraph reported a remarkable resurgence in Ethereum's mainnet DeFi market, driven by bot activity and increased stablecoin transfers. According to the report, automated bots facilitated 4.84 million stablecoin transfers on Ethereum's layer-1 blockchain in May, generating a record high volume of $480 billion. Cointelegraph also noted that CEX.io, a crypto trading platform, attributed this surge to lower transaction fees in early 2025, a development that reversed a multi-year trend of liquidity migrating to competing blockchains and Ethereum layer-2 networks. The Cointelegraph report also indicated that, consequently, Ethereum's mainnet stablecoin market capitalization grew by 11% in 2025, allowing the mainnet to regain market share from its layer-2 networks. Meanwhile, the combined stablecoin market on layer-2 networks experienced only a slight 1% decrease, according to the same report. The Cointelegraph report on June 5 further detailed that bots played a significant role in this resurgence by improving liquidity and efficiency on Ethereum's decentralized exchanges (DEXs). According to information from CEX.io cited in the report, these bots propelled stablecoin swaps to become the leading category on Ethereum DEXs for the first time, accounting for 37% of total DEX trading volume in April and 32% in May. This shift in trading behavior, as highlighted in the report, indicates a greater emphasis on utility and payment-driven applications, which consequently led to Circle’s USDC becoming the most-traded asset on Ethereum. In the same June 5 report, Cointelegraph included insights from Illia Otychenko, lead analyst at CEX.io, from an interview. Otychenko noted Ethereum’s growing focus on stablecoins, explaining that this focus indicates a shift towards real-world adoption. This shift, he elaborated, is driven by the need for fast, reliable, and borderless payments in emerging markets. However, Otychenko cautioned that Ethereum must address challenges, such as liquidity fragmentation across layers, to maintain its lead. Separately, according to CoinMarketCap on June 5, as of 13:09 UTC, Ethereum (ETH) was trading at $2,634.27. Its 24-hour trading volume had increased by 0.835%.