Uniswap Protocol, a dominant player in the decentralized exchange (DEX) landscape, set a monthly record by trading $15.65 billion on the Base network in January 2025, marking the third consecutive month of all-time highs. This achievement brings the total trading volume on Uniswap to over $1 trillion, affirming its status as one of the world’s largest DEXs.
A granular breakdown of data from the Uniswap interface on Base reveals that memecoins, AI agents, and Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC) are the most active assets. Notably, memecoins have emerged as one of the top-performing assets this cycle, with Base becoming an increasingly popular platform for risk-tolerant traders. This trend is largely attributed to the intersection of the AI agent and memecoin narratives.
Among the top-performing tokens is Virtual Protocol’s VIRTUAL, currently trading at $2.05. It posted a monthly volume of $6.6 billion and an all-time volume of $12.2 billion, nestling comfortably between Ethereum and USDC, essential tokens for DeFi activity on Base.
USDC, following Coinbase’s decision to delist USDT in Europe in compliance with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations, has monopolized volume on the network. It recorded a monthly trading volume of $5.5 billion and a fully diluted capitalization of $53.1 billion. In contrast, Tether’s USDT experienced a dismal January, with a total trading volume of less than $59 million.
Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC), specifically designed to be compatible with DeFi applications, has also seen significant action, with $2.4 billion in fully diluted value and a trading volume of $695.95 million. Virtuals’ aixbt, another AI token, reported a monthly trading volume of $603 million.
This surge in Uniswap’s trading volume has played a pivotal role in Base’s expansion and the network’s overall vibrancy. With over 500 decentralized apps and a user base that grew to over 2 million daily active users in January, Base has evolved from a playful platform for NFT and meme experiments to a serious contender in the DeFi space.
Leading apps on Base include Aerodrome, Morpho Blue, and Uniswap, with Morpho gaining traction as a source for crypto-backed loans, allowing Coinbase users to borrow against Bitcoin collateral. Base’s integration with Phantom Wallet also proved instrumental in attracting new users in the final quarter of 2024.
Despite a total value locked (TVL) of approximately $3.5 billion and a monthly volume nearing $20 billion, Base trails behind Solana, another network that posted record-breaking numbers in January.
Uniswap first emerged in November 2018 and quickly made its mark in the decentralized finance space. By 2021, Uniswap had processed over 50 million transactions and remained steady throughout 2022’s bear market conditions. In 2023, Uniswap processed less than 180 million transactions, but 2024 set a new record with more than 300 million transactions processed.
