Base dominates DeFi transactions, Optimism leads cross-chain volume

Optimism has seen an increase in cross-chain transfers, while Base dominates DEX transactions, with Ethereum consistently trending down.

DeFi markets are experiencing major shifts recently. According to Dune analytics, Optimism (OP) has seen significant growth in cross-chain transfers. At the same time, Base is leading in DEX transactions and fees.

1/ On April 8, @Optimism led all chains in value transferred:

$410M

That’s nearly 40% of all value moved across major chains in one day

Also topped in value per transaction: 0.22 ETH avg per transaction pic.twitter.com/4kNjHVCwmy

— Dune (@Dune) April 10, 2025

Traders moved $410 million in value transfers to and from Optimism. This is significant, as the figure accounts for 40% of all value moved across major chains. Thanks to its interoperability, Optimism is becoming increasingly popular for moving liquidity between Ethereum layer-2 networks.

Optimism, Base growth relies on interoperability

The key to Optimism’s position is its OP Stack, which is open-sourced. This improves interoperability, enabling other networks to interface with it easily. This is especially true for Base, which is also built on top of the OP Stack. Mantle, Worldcoin, and Celo are among other similar chains.

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Base is benefiting from its Optimism integration and is currently leading in terms of DEX transactions and fees. For instance, 60% of all DeFi transactions now happen on Base. Arbitrum facilitates around 25% of DEX transactions. Ethereum (ETH) transaction counts have been consistently falling and accounted for just 7% of DEX transactions on April 7.

4/ Now let’s talk usage. As we know, most of the DEX activity isn’t happening on Ethereum anymore. Of all DEX transactions:

📊 @base leads with ~60%
📊 @arbitrum follows with ~25%
📊 Ethereum? Just ~7% pic.twitter.com/ioyRRdLjbH

— Dune (@Dune) April 10, 2025

As DEXs try to compete with centralized exchanges, they are moving away from Ethereum due to its costly gas fees. Since blockchains charge fees on each transaction, this shift also translates into a change in profitability. Specifically, Base earned 211 ETH in fees on April 7, with Arbitrum close behind at 170 ETH.

While Ethereum no longer controls the majority of DEX transactions, it still dominates total trading volume. Ethereum controls 60% of the $3 billion in daily DEX volume. Base holds second place with 20%, while Arbitrum ranks third, with around 15% of the market.

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