Arbitrum gained $381 million in stablecoin inflows over the last week, while Ethereum lost $374 million.
Stablecoin users are increasingly flipping out of Ethereum (ETH) and into faster, cheaper layer-2 chains. For the week ending June 2, Ethereum’s layer-2 network, Arbitrum (ARB), led all top chains in stablecoin inflows. The network recorded $381 million in inflows, while Ethereum saw $374 million in outflows.
Another big gainer during this period was Tron (TRX), which attracted $102 million in stablecoin inflows. The network has solidified its position as the leader in USDT supply, having flipped Ethereum in May. Notably, stablecoin payments remain one of Tron’s strongest use cases, particularly in Asia.
At the same time, Solana (SOL) was among the biggest losers, experiencing $239 million in stablecoin outflows. The network has been impacted by a slowdown in the memecoin market, leading users to move stablecoins to other chains.
Ethereum bleeds value to layer 2 networks
Layer-2 networks like Arbitrum are designed to scale Ethereum by offloading transactions from the mainchain. Users benefit from lower fees while remaining within the Ethereum ecosystem. However, this scaling model has raised concerns among ETH holders, who fear too much value is being siphoned away from the Ethereum base layer.
While Arbitrum relies on Ethereum’s decentralization and security, it captures the bulk of the economic value from transaction processing and gas fees. In contrast, falling gas fee revenue on Ethereum is undermining the network’s deflationary supply model.
However, since the release of the Pectra Upgrade, the narrative on Ethereum is changing. For instance, Artemiy Parshakov, Vice President of Institutions at P2P.org, suggested that Ethereum should not be chasing short-term profitability.
Instead, he praised Ethereum’s long-term vision, emphasizing that cheaper transactions and greater efficiency are essential for building a sustainable ecosystem, one in which Arbitrum also plays a key role.
