The Ethereum chain had the largest net inflow in 2025. The chain has become a hub of high-value DeFi liquidity, returning to the main layer from other L2 chains.
Despite the growth of DeFi activity on other chains, the Ethereum ecosystem has returned the lion’s share of liquidity to the L1 network. Despite the short-term migration of liquidity to other chains, the Ethereum network reached $4.2 billion in net flows in 2025. In the long term, Ethereum has been the central hub for bridging activities.
Ethereum is preparing to end 2025 with net inflows exceeding $4.2 billion while liquidity abandons the Arbitrum L2 chain. |Source: Artemis
The biggest outflow came from Arbitrum, which lost some of its liquidity as DeFi moved to the main network. Ethereum continues to add liquidity, $195 million Inflow amount over the past week.
Hyperliquid recorded the second-largest net inflow, holding an additional $2 billion in 2025. Over the past year, the tides of the ecosystem have shifted multiple times, showing that traders are seeking venues with more active trading and liquidity, rather than specific chains.
As a cryptopolitan reported Previously, Ethereum also reached its peak in smart contract creation and usage in 2025.
Ethereum leads the flow of the entire ecosystem
Ethereum activity has ended $64 billion With inflows and outflows of around $60 billion over the past year, it also ranks among the top overall liquidity flows. The main reason for Ethereum’s dominance is usually the available bridges that connect other chains to Ethereum.
The use of stablecoins also meant that Ethereum was an important hub for payments. Stablecoins can be bridged to other networks for trading, but the Ethereum-based version is the most liquid. Since ERC-20 tokens are widely used by exchanges and DeFi protocols, some users choose to bridge their assets to Ethereum at the final stage.
One of the major changes in on-chain liquidity occurred around the October 10th liquidation event. Since October 12th, L2 chain share has decreased as liquidity has returned to Ethereum.
Risky protocols on the L2 chain were quickly abandoned and inflows to Ethereum increased. As of December 29, the L2 chain accounts for 13.5% of the Ethereum ecosystem economy. The main net still held most of the apps.
With gas prices back to record lows, Ethereum has become easier to use. The L2 network still executes the largest number of transactions, accounting for over 93% of on-chain activity in the ecosystem. However, the L1 chain is responsible for the largest share of liquidity.
L2 Chain only holds 8.8% of the total stablecoin supply, which reached $18 billion at its peak. Last month, L2 Chain lost $1 billion in stablecoin liquidity due to market contraction.
ETH braces for net loss in 2025
The main challenge in Ethereum adoption was the volatility of ETH. Through December 29, ETH had a net loss of 12.1% after losing over 29% in the previous quarter.
ETH traded at $2,930, but briefly rose above $3,000. ETH ranged from a yearly high of $4,948 to a low of around $1,400. Over the past year, ETH has continued to encourage whale purchases and increase DeFi lending activity. However, expectations for a raise to a higher range were not met.
