Smaller Blockchain Chains Surpass Expectations as Main Drivers of Swap Activity

The latest data from SimpleSwap's H1 2026 Swap Report reveals an unexpected trend in blockchain activity. The report, which covers a six-month period, shows that chains outside the top four dominated swap traffic, accounting for 71.4% of all swaps.

Contrary to expectations, Ethereum was not the main driver of this trend, but rather a key player in connecting smaller chains. In fact, Ethereum accounted for only 31.0% of swaps on SimpleSwap during this period, making it the most-used single chain.

The data also highlights the growing importance of cross-chain swaps, which made up 91.8% of all swaps in H1 2026. This is a significant increase from previous years and suggests that users are increasingly looking to move assets across different chains without friction.

Rubic's own analysis of its traffic shows similar trends, with TRON experiencing significant growth in cross-chain transactions and value.