Stablecoin activity is becoming a battle over which blockchain moves the most tokenized dollars.
Adjusted stablecoin trading volume reached approximately $1.79 trillion in June, surpassing February’s all-time high and significantly increasing from May, according to Visa Onchain Analytics. The major network split was close. Base ranked first with adjusted trading volume of approximately $565 billion, slightly ahead of Ethereum’s approximately $562 billion.
The advantage Base has over Ethereum may be small, but it is still an important achievement. Base is a layer 2 network built around cheaper and faster Ethereum activity. Once it rises to the top of the adjusted stablecoin flow table, attention shifts from token supply to payment distribution: wallets, fees, app integrations, and payment availability.
Because raw blockchain volume can include bots, high-frequency wallets, internal smart contract movements, and intra-exchange transfers, Visa’s dashboard separates reconciled and unreconciled activity. Its tailored methodology, developed with Allium and other partners, seeks to filter out that noise and bring it closer to an activity that looks and feels like a real payment.
The filter is still a best-guess approach, and Visa says it will continue to improve its methodology as labeling coverage expands. Even with that limitation, adjusted volume is more useful for Base-Ethereum comparisons than raw transfer volume alone, as it indicates where meaningful stablecoin movement is occurring.
Strengthening issuer division $USDCThe role of in stablecoin payments. $USDC It accounted for approximately 67% of June’s adjusted trading volume, with USDT accounting for approximately 32%. it maintains $USDC While central to stablecoin flows, especially Base, the more important change is how volume is distributed across the network.
Visa’s broader stablecoin description describes stablecoins as a payments infrastructure for cross-border transfers, cards linked to stablecoins, payments to businesses, and seven-day settlements. In that world, the chain that carries the dollar becomes an important part of the product. Fees, wallet distribution, app integration, and payment availability all influence whether a stablecoin can be used outside of a trading venue.
Visa’s insights page had already pointed to a longer-term L2 trend, noting that the entire L2 network surpassed Ethereum in monthly stablecoin transactions in August 2024, with Base transactions progressing rapidly. $USDC Volume data for June shows that the same pattern is starting to emerge in adjusted dollar flows.
But the lead remains narrow. Base only surpassed Ethereum by about $3 billion, and both networks cleared more than $5 trillion in adjusted trading volume. The next signal is whether L2 continues to capture stablecoin activity like payments across multiple months and market conditions.
