Stablecoins represent 30% of DeFi revenue
Stablecoins represent 30% of DeFi revenue and are key to the sector's development, according to research by Keyrock Trading. Year over year, the weight of stablecoins in DeFi revenue has grown sevenfold.
Stablecoins are becoming central to DeFi revenue, accounting for 30% of the flows for most DeFi projects. Over the past year, stablecoins have not only increased their supply but have also developed new use cases, capitalizing on the generally bullish trend of cryptocurrencies.
Keyrock Trading found that stablecoins have become key drivers for protocol activity, going beyond a mere tool for transfers between exchanges. The year of relative stability meant that both asset-backed stablecoins and those collateralized by cryptocurrencies could serve within the DeFi space.
Ethereum and L2 generate higher revenues from the use of stablecoins
Stablecoins grew to a total supply of $246.1B, with DeFi being the second most active use case after centralized trading. A total of $17.7B in stablecoins flowed into DeFi over a five-year period, with rapidly increasing liquidity for specific protocols. Stablecoins returned to Arbitrum last month, injecting $6.4B into the L2 chain and its DeFi applications. Arbitrum is also recovering its stablecoin-related revenue, with nearly constant growth since March.
Stablecoins have returned to Arbitrum, one of the most active L2 chains for DeFi. | Source: GrowThePie
DEX and lending protocols have a different stablecoin profile. Some protocols retain a larger portion of stablecoin-based revenue, while for others, growth is marginal.
Keyrock found that Ethereum and its L2 produced the most significant revenues from the use of stablecoins. Despite active transfers on TRON and Solana, the Ethereum ecosystem remained a hub for large-scale trading activity, DEX exchanges, and perpetual futures trading.
Ethereum saw 23% in stablecoin-driven revenue for DeFi applications, while L2 reached 23%. Solana only had 13% in stablecoin-driven revenue.
Revenue derived from stablecoins traces the return of a more active bear market. Current levels of DeFi revenue return to their range in 2021, when 35% of DeFi revenue depended on stablecoins. During the bear market lows, stablecoin-driven revenue fell to as low as 3%, as market instability and corrections could not sustain revenue minting and sufficient collateral.
The share of stablecoins in DeFi revenue is cyclical, with flows marking bullish periods with more confidence in decentralized protocols. | Source: Keyrock Research
Keyrock found that stablecoins are not only a safe haven during bear markets. When used in DeFi protocols, stablecoin-driven revenue is an indicator of overall bullish sentiment. Confidence in the market direction generates trust in lending protocols, DEX liquidity funds, and other DeFi applications for passive income.
Other findings show that in the short term, stablecoins are also used to protect realized gains, as tokens are held close and not deployed in DeFi protocols. The supply and use of stablecoins have also decoupled from BTC performance, as part of the liquidity has moved directly to DeFi.
The percentage of revenue from stablecoins is more directly correlated with the yields of lending protocols. During periods of confidence, most lending protocols raise their rates, leading to an influx of stablecoins and higher revenues. High yields mean there are also borrowers looking to leverage hot markets while paying a premium for access to stablecoin liquidity.
Stablecoins are also expanding their share of DEX revenue. Revenue derived from stablecoins recovered to around 20% in 2025, up from 10% at the end of 2025. DEX still uses other tokens to form pairs, but stablecoin liquidity is gaining importance for perpetual exchanges, meme token trading, and general token swaps.
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