Base overtakes Arbitrum in DEX volume on July 8, DefiLlama shows

Base's daily DEX volume surpassed Arbitrum's on July 8, marking the first time Coinbase's Layer-2 network has led its rival in trading activity.

Base's daily decentralized exchange volume overtook Arbitrum's on July 8, according to DefiLlama data, as Coinbase's Layer-2 network captured a greater share of on-chain trading.

"DEX volume is a cleaner signal than hype because it shows users moving capital," the DefiLlama report noted, with Base's ecosystem benefiting from Coinbase's distribution network and a growing application roster.

The shift follows Base's Beryl upgrade on June 26, which shortened withdrawal waiting periods to five days from seven and introduced B20 tokens with built-in issuer controls including supply limits and transfer rules. B20 tokens are compatible with standard ERC-20 tokens but give issuers the ability to set transfer rules, mint and burn tokens, and add transaction notes. The initial Beryl upgrade was delayed by one day due to a separate B20 activation registry timing issue. The network had also faced back-to-back outages on June 25 and June 26 linked to a sequencer bug, with the first incident lasting about 116 minutes and a second lasting about 20 minutes.

The milestone intensifies competition in the Layer-2 sector, where Arbitrum, Optimism, Base and zkSync compete for developer attention and user capital. Whether Base can sustain its volume lead depends on continued app ecosystem growth and liquidity depth, with weekly DEX volume trends on DefiLlama serving as the next key data point.

The shift in DEX volume comes as broader activity picks up across Ethereum Layer-2 networks. Lighter, a zero-knowledge rollup built for perpetual futures trading, has repurchased about 15.5 million LIT tokens — roughly 6.3 percent of the total supply — funded from treasury revenues. The buyback program has coincided with a surge in trading activity that pushed the protocol past $200 billion in 30-day volume on its perpetual DEX, putting it ahead of several more established competitors.

Mantle Network, another Ethereum Layer-2 solution focused on capital efficiency, has also seen elevated whale activity. Santiment data flagged Mantle's MNT token as the top network for increases in transactions worth $100,000 or more in August 2025. Both Lighter and Mantle are recording their highest large-wallet transaction levels in six months, according to Santiment. One pattern worth noting: new wallets have been making multi-million-dollar initial investments in both LIT and MNT tokens, a classic on-chain signal of institutional or high-net-worth entry rather than existing holders reshuffling positions.

For traders, the Base-Arbitrum flip provides a clearer frame for the next several sessions. The confirmed development — Base's DEX volume lead — is worth tracking, while the question of whether it becomes permanent requires patience. A second week of sustained volume advantage would signal a broader trend rather than a single-day anomaly. Arbitrum remains a serious competitor with deeper liquidity pools, and the market is now watching whether Base's Coinbase distribution edge translates into sustained on-chain depth. If Base maintains its lead, it could drive increased attention and capital inflows to its ecosystem, potentially boosting demand for ETH as a gas asset for Layer-2 activity and pressuring other networks to accelerate their own incentive programs.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.