Stablecoin volume on Ethereum hit a record $908 billion in April

What’s new? Stablecoin volume on the Ethereum blockchain reached a record $908 billion in April as a result of growing institutional adoption of this type of crypto asset. Circle’s USDC performs best, with transaction volume exceeding $500 billion in the last six months of steady growth.

Material by The Block

What else is known? DAI and USDS from Sky Protocol (formerly Maker) are also gaining significant volume, reflecting the diversification of the stablecoin landscape.

Earlier, Bernstein analysts said that last week’s sharp rise of the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain’s native token was the result of increased institutional and retail investor interest in blockchain and stablecoin payments.

Analysts noted the growing adoption of stablecoins for cross-border payments and the potential for brokerages like Robinhood to offer tokenized shares on their own Ethereum-based blockchains.

The report mentions Robinhood’s purchase of crypto exchange WonderFi, which operates its own Ethereum-based Layer 2 (L2) network.

“Brokers such as Robinhood could potentially offer tokenized equities on their own blockchain, built on Layer 2 Ethereum. Layer 2 chains use ETH for gas fees as underlying currency, thus helping drive distribution and demand for ETH,” the Bernstein note says.

Over the past week, ETH has overtaken other cryptocurrencies in the top 10 by market capitalization in terms of growth, adding 12,4% to reach $2625. Ethereum began to grow after the successful rollout of the Pectra upgrade to the mainnet, which is designed to improve the speed and efficiency of the blockchain.

Before that, the largest altcoin had been trading in a narrow price range between $1500 and $1700 for most of the year. The changing regulatory environment in the United States with the arrival of the Trump administration has sparked increased interest in digital assets, including stablecoins, whose regulatory laws could be passed by Congress as soon as possible.

Payment service provider Stripe has recently launched stablecoin-based accounts for corporate clients and completed the purchase of Bridge, a company engaged in infrastructure for this type of asset. In turn, Meta Corporation has begun exploring the integration of stablecoins to reduce transaction costs, Bernstein noted.

“Stablecoins are bringing back the focus on underlying blockchain networks becomin platform proxies to gain exposure to the growth trend,” Bernstein analysts write, adding that Ethereum holds a dominant 51% share of total stablecoin issuance.

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The surge in stablecoin activity on Ethereum underscores the network’s continued dominance as the preferred blockchain for dollar-denominated digital assets, despite competition from alternative blockchains and L2 solutions.