Cross-chain bridge flows: Arbitrum, Optimism and Base lead 30-day inflows
Post494 words
Uses Artemis and DefiLlama bridge data to track where liquidity moves. Ethereum originates 78.1% of bridge volume and Arbitrum, Optimism and Base capture 72% of destination flows, with zkSync net flows only slightly positive despite the pending ZK token.
Key claims
About $2.6B flowed from Ethereum into emerging ecosystems in 30 days, 78.1% of originated bridge volume
Destination share over 30 days: Arbitrum 33.3%, Optimism 21.1%, Base 17.7%
zkSync net flow $65M after $173M outflows
Starknet inflows $174M, GMX up 76% in 30 days
๐ข๐ป-๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐ฝ๐ต๐ฎ. ๐ ๐
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Especially cross-chain flows can be a powerful indicator of where billions of $$$ in liquidity are moving and where they might spark the next DeFi summer or meme season.
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๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐ป ๐
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Ethereum with over $120B in TVL is the liquidity powerhouse of the Web3 ecosystem.
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Over any time horizon, whether we look at 1 month, 3 month or 1 year worth of data, Ethereum is the main originator of cross-chain volume.
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In the past 30 days, roughly $2.6B in liquidity flowed into emerging ecosystems from Ethereum alone. This is 78.1% of the totally originated bridging volume.
With 33.3% of the total volume, @arbitrum is the leading destination chain in the last month, followed by @Optimism (21.1%) and @base (17.7%).
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The gap between the top 3 and the rest of the pack is considerable. With only 7.2%, 5.5% and 5.4% respectively, @zksync, @SuiNetwork and @0xPolygon PoS (which is slightly surprising to be so high up) follow on spots 4-6.
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Aside Ethereum, liquidity that entered these ecosystems mainly stems from @zksync (people pissed about trademark lol) and @LineaBuild (probably unsurprisingly after hack).
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Interestingly, the net flows of @zksync, considering the $173M in outflows, result in only a slightly positive $65M, which actually puts it behind @SuiNetwork, @0xPolygon PoS and @solana.
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Quite remarkable imo but with the $ZK token close, I assume people just don't see the need to bridge in for airdrop anymore and other ecosystems currently seem to offer more attractive opportunities.
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Another one that moves up the list due to a lack of (tracked) outflows, is @Starknet, that had a total inflow of $174M, which is also the net flow according to @artemis__xyz, putting it in fourth place.
But let's zoom in. ๐
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How does it look over the past 7 days?
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Once again, the clear leader is @arbitrum with a total of 37% of inflows ($214M).
The @arbitrum ecosystem seems to be cooking and its probably no coincidence that ecosystem bluechip $GMX has seen a price rally of 76% in the last 30 days and 19% in the past 7 days alone.
What is also interesting when looking at the 7D data, is that @Starknet is in second place as a destination chain.
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Uniquely, the total $103M in inflows over the past 7 days has been bridged solely from Ethereum. Most other ecosystems have a much more diverse set of origin chains.
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But with quite a few ecosystem catalysts starting to take shape, the data seems to suggest that ZK summer might not be exclusive to @zksync.
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In 3rd and 4th spot sit @Optimism and @base, which have each seen $86M and $78M in inflows.
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The picture remains the same when looking at the net flows in this case. For more information, check the screenshots above.
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๐ง DYOR anon.
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๐ Data from @artemis__xyz and @DefiLlama
4 images on X
How the covered assets moved ยท since 07 Jun 2024
Prices as of 23 Oct 2026This data piece reports the numbers without making a call on the token, so price moves since publication are shown as market context.
Mentioned for context
Since then
Zero has written 5 more pieces on Arbitrum since this one.
Daily closes in USD from DefiLlama and Yahoo Finance. Only a bullish or bearish thesis is read as a call; explainers, maps and mentions are context. Not financial advice.