Stablecoins have become one of the most useful projects in cryptoland, as they offer the stability that many desire in the volatile world of cryptocurrencies, while also providing exposure to the upside of crypto in a dollar-based form. But the use of vary has been hampered, at times, by the shortcomings of Layer-1 blockchains, like Ethereum, where congestion, high gas fees and slow transaction throughput make everyday payments unthinkable. To make stablecoins–which are essentially IOUs for digital dollars–even more useful, the industry has begun to look toward Layer-2 (L2) solutions for them–secondary protocols layered on top of existing blockchains to enable faster, more efficient transactions.

The Importance of Layer-2 Solutions for Adopting Stablecoins:

Layer-2 networks are built to take the load off of the Ethereum mainnet for transaction processing\footnote (where they still benefit from the security provided by the mainnet). These networks perform transactions off-chain, then periodically post cryptographic proofs of those transactions to the main chain. Such architecture greatly improves the scalability while preserving trust and decentralization of Ethereum.

For stablecoins, digital assets that are pegged to fiat currencies, this architecture is a game changer. Low-fee stablecoin transfers, high throughput and near-instant confirmation times will make stablecoins more suitable for consumer payments, cross-border remittances, merchant settlements and on-chain commerce.

Also read: How Fintechs Can Scale Faster by Outsourcing Wallet Infrastructure

Arbitrum: A Grown Up Stack for Layer-2 Stablecoin Transactions

Arbitrum is the most popular L2 network; Its rollup-based structure enables more transactions at a lower cost. Since July 2025, a fairly large increase in the stablecoin utterances has been observed on Arbitrum.

• It now owns 2.6% of world’s supply of stablecoins (~$249.8 billion).
• There are now more than 1 million stablecoin wallets on Arbitrum.
• In a single week, $381 million moved into Arbitrum from Ethereum.
• As of press time, the market cap of stablecoins on Arbitrum is $3.511 billion, representing a 7-day growth of +5.34%.
• The most traded token is USDC, making up for 60.53% of Arbitrum’s stablecoin volume.

These figures demonstrate that users of businesses making and receiving Arbitrum stablecoin payments are growing, and that they are maturing into a viable option for those that don’t want to pay more in fees and wait longer for traditional crypto transactions.

Optimism: When Efficiency Meets Simplicity in Stablecoins

Optimism, another Ethereum-compatible L2, has a clean developer experience and strong ecosystem support. Optimism facilitates stablecoin transfers at scale with lower fees and faster settlement - the more it is used, the more it becomes a top choice for DeFi applications and apps.

By the latest available data:

• There’s $546.88 million in stablecoins rattling around on Optimism Skeptics pine for the days when $500 million in stablecoins and market infrastructure were exactly what they seemed: massive amounts.
• There are now 4.52 million stablecoin holders on the network, a 2.14% rise over the past 30 days.
• On the other hand, Optimism recorded 89k daily active addresses in Q1 2024 (23% QoQ growth).
• Average daily transactions for the period shot up to 470,000 as well (+39% QoQ).

This rising trend of growth highlights the effectiveness of integrating Optimism stablecoins. It is particularly well suited for businesses that want to make L2 stablecoin transactions viable and have high community backing and low implementation hurdles.

Base: The Breakout Performer in Stablecoin Layer-2 Growth-

Unusual among all of these Layer 2 solutions, however, Base is supported by a publicly traded company, in the form of Coinbase, and that sets Base apart in the Layer-2 space. Base is constructed atop Optimism’s OP Stack but includes more integrated exchange hooks and is more retail focused.

Usage Base has absolutely boomed since it launched its base mainnet in August 2023:

• Daily transactions increased 1,600% from 372,000 in January to 6.63 million in October 2024.
• TVL increased from $439m to $2.51b, representing a 470% increase.
• Weekly active addresses jumped from 300,000 to 6.61 million, new daily users increased by 5,300%.

Stablecoin numbers are even more remarkable:

• Weekly Tides stablecoin volume skyrocketed from $620 million to $55 billion within November 2024—an 8,800% pace.
• Base now owns 18% of the stablecoin market share, compared with only 0.7% at the beginning of the year.
• As of October 26, Base was responsible for 30.06% of all global stablecoin volume, for a brief moment overtaking Ethereum, Solana and Tron.
• Average fee for a $200 USDC transfer: $5.02 on Ethereum, $0.31 on Solana.

These statistics show just how Base is defining the scalability and use of a stablecoin. Its power derives not only from speed or scale — but from usability and accessibility.

TransFi and Layer-2 Stablecoin Payments

As stablecoin infrastructure continues to grow on Base, Arbitrum and Optimism, they are looking for scalable solutions to integrate these payment layers into their operations. TransFi provides that bridge. It allows developers and businesses to build on Layer,2 stablecoin transactions, connect to fiat onramps and send payments across chains without having to build the infrastructure themselves.

If you’re building a dApp on Base, launching a payment platform on Arbitrum, or dealing with cross-border remittances via Optimism, TransFi helps abstract away infrastructure and liquidity worries. As the stablecoin market continues to expand, platforms such as TransFi will increasingly play a critical role in promoting convenience and leveraging the stablecoin’s potentials – for both users and creators, alike.

Risks, MEV, and Ongoing Challenges

However, despite their achievements, Layer-2s do face some challenges. One of the main issues is also Maximal Extractable Value (MEV)—arbitraging of transaction order for profit. While the cost of MEV on L2s is less than on the Ethereum mainnet, it still represents a threat to fair execution. On rollups, such as Arbitrum and Optimism, sandwich attacks across layers can make use of the gap in time between transaction visibility and transaction confirmation.

For alleviating this issue, fair ordering and decentralized ordering have been explored. The issues is not exclusive to stablecoins, though stablecoins are used a lot and are used in high volumes. Solving for these issues will be essential to creating reliable, high-through stablecoin liquidity ecosystems on Ethereum Layer-2 chains.

Also read: Merchant & eCommerce Adoption of Stablecoins: A Lower-Cost Payment Paradigm

The Future of Scalable Digital Dollar Infrastructure

Increasing adoption of stablecoins on L2s suggests a transition from speculative use to actual financial use. As Base and others like them continue to work at demystifying the blockchain, it is being made increasingly accessible to mainstream users, businesses, and global commerce platforms.

If Ethereum becomes a data availability and settlement layer and if there is execution scalability on L2s, stablecoins could be as frictionless as email: transmissible all across the world in seconds for pennies.

Conclusion

The blossoming of stablecoin Layer-2 networks is a watershed moment in the blockchain scalability story. As real-world volumes now begin to feed through Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base, we are seeing the early signs of a stablecoin economy designed for global scale, driven not by hype, but by the quiet efficiency of “next-gen” infrastructure.

For users and businesses, the evolution provides a compelling argument: a better, faster and cheaper way to move money, and it’s about to finally have its moment.

FAQs:

1. What is a Layer-2 solution for stablecoins?

Layer-2 solutions are protocols that sit atop Layer-1 chains, like Ethereum, which conduct transactions faster and more cheaply. They let stablecoins move quickly and more cheaply while still being secured by Ethereum.

2. Why are Layer-2 networks embracing stablecoin adoption?

L2s are gaining popularity with stablecoins, because they offer lower fees, faster confirmation times and greater scalability. This makes them more apt for everyday payments, remittances, and commercialization.

3. How do stablecoins fare on Arbitrum and Optimism?

These networks batch transactions, perform them off-chain and post compressed proofs to Ethereum using rollups. And that increases the amount of transactions that can be done on the cheap.

4. What makes Base special in the Layer-2 stablecoin space?

Base is developed by Coinbase, it has excellent user authentication and fit integration. It provides the fastest and lowest-fee stablecoin solution of any major L2 ecosystem and has been growing at the fastest pace of any stability platform.

5. Can businesses take payments in stablecoins on L2s?

Yes. Platforms such as TransFi enable businesses to easily accept, route and settle stablecoin payments on L2 networks without requiring significant blockchain expertise.