If you've been closely monitoring the stablecoin market, you've likely observed a significant surge in DAI activity on the Ethereum blockchain in recent days.

Both on April 17 and April 18, DAI witnessed an unprecedented volume of over $50 billion in on-chain transfers, with April 17 setting a new record with a staggering $86 billion in volume—the highest ever recorded for this stablecoin in a single day.

This surge represents a stark contrast to the relatively modest activity, often below $10 billion, seen earlier in the month.

We've previously discussed the growing on-chain volumes of DAI, particularly in the context of its usage in complex Miner Extractable Value (MEV) transactions. From December 2022 to October 2023, daily DAI activity typically hovered around $5 billion at most. However, volumes began to rise as DAI became increasingly involved in intricate MEV operations.

Once again, MEV activity appears to be the primary catalyst behind this recent surge. For instance, consider transaction 0x447, where nearly $200 million worth of DAI was minted, transferred to Aave, withdrawn from Aave, sent to the Maker Flash contract, and finally burned—all within a single transaction, resulting in close to $1 billion worth of DAI volume.

The Maker flash mint module allows users to mint DAI (within specified limits) on the condition that they repay it within the same transaction, along with a small fee. This feature has gained immense popularity among arbitrageurs and MEV bots due to its ability to provide access to significant funds at minimal cost.

Another noteworthy example is transaction 0x160, also executed by the MEV bot 0x5ed...a9f. A closer look at the activity associated with this address reveals a substantial increase in transactions on April 17-18, with 254 and 256 transactions, respectively—compared to the previous daily high of 63 earlier in April.

According to EigenPhi, a tool for monitoring MEV data, the bot generated just under $20,000 in profits on both April 17 and April 18. Interestingly, despite a slowdown in activity, the bot managed to surpass $20,000 in profits on April 19.