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USDC Trading Dominates Record Day for DeFi Exchanges Uniswap, Curve
Decentralized exchanges worked exactly as intended as traders rushed to exchange USDC for wrapped ether and other tokens.
Updated Mar 13, 2023, 5:28 p.m. Published Mar 13, 2023, 7:15 a.m.
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Decentralized exchanges (DEX) Uniswap and Curve recorded lifetime high trading volumes over the weekend as traders rushed to exchange token holdings, specifically USD coin (USDC).
Uniswap processed nearly $12 billion in trading volume over a 24-hour period from Saturday to Sunday.
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🦄 @Uniswap at almost $12b in daily volume, hitting 11 digits for the first time ever!!!
— hayden.eth 🦄 (@haydenzadams) March 12, 2023
👀 I don't often tweet volume milestones anymore but that's over 5% of Nasdaq https://t.co/ZUszhiUNPu
DEXs rely on smart contracts instead of middlemen to provide financial services such as trading, lending or borrowing to users. Users deposit their tokens to pools to provide liquidity to the platform for rewards, typically a cut of fees paid by traders who use these services.
Dune Analytics data shows USDC pools for wrapped ether (wETH), tether and processed $15 billion in volume over a seven-day period, with a majority of this taking place from Friday to Sunday.
This generated over $8 million in fees for the Uniswap protocol, adding to Uniswap Labs’ revenue and a smaller percentage paid out to liquidity providers.
Elsewhere, stablecoin swapping tool Curve recorded nearly $8 billion in trading volume. One of its popular pools was out of balance as traders rushed to exchange USDC for other tokens.
Hot time pic.twitter.com/aWE2LLFZvb
— Curve Finance (@CurveFinance) March 12, 2023
Circle Internet Financial's USDC stablecoin massively depegged from its intended $1 price on Friday night after Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), where Circle parked over $3.3 billion in treasury assets, was shut by regulators.
That sparked a selling frenzy over the weekend, with bitcoin dipping from a major support level at $20,000 to as low as $19,200.
However, bitcoin and ether surged 10% in the past 24 hours to retrace all weekend losses on Monday. The move came as USD coin (USDC) issuer Circle said Sunday it would cover all shortfall in reserves, while U.S. regulators said SVB depositors will have access to all funds on Monday morning after the U.S. open.
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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Key bitcoin price levels to watch as downward pressure builds
As bitcoin remains in a downtrend, several technical and onchain levels stand out as critical areas of support.
What to know:
- The 100-week moving average at $87,145 remains the main line of defense.
- Below this, the cost basis of U.S. spot bitcoin ETF buyers at $84,099 has provided support during recent consolidation.
- A sustained break below $80,000 would likely open the door to a revisit of the April 2025 low near $76,000.
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