BNB Chain, the EVM-compatible community tied to cryptocurrency change Binance, is experiencing a resurgence within the decentralized finance (DeFi) and memecoin areas simply as a few of its rivals face an id disaster.
For many of 2024 and into early 2025, Solana dominated the retail DeFi narrative. It grew to become the community of selection for memecoins tied to celebrities, influencers and political figures, including US President Donald Trump.
Nevertheless, the ecosystem took a reputational hit after Argentine President Javier Milei jumped on the memecoin bandwagon. His related venture, “Libra,” was accused of insider trading. The controversy dented belief in Solana’s memecoin sector and opened the door for rivals.
BNB Chain has seized the second, capturing displaced memecoin quantity. The chain has its personal memecoin platform, 4.Meme — corresponding to Solana’s Pump.enjoyable — and launched every day competitions to advertise new initiatives and subsidize their liquidity. A few of these memecoins have even gone on to secure listings on Binance itself.
This momentum is clearly mirrored within the buying and selling quantity of the community’s high decentralized change (DEX), PancakeSwap. In a two-week stretch from March 15, PancakeSwap led all EVM chains’ DEX quantity on 9 separate days, in response to Dune Analytics information.
PancakeSwap on BNB Chain dominates the second half of March in DEX quantity. Supply: Dune Analytics
“It’s price noting that PancakeSwap’s latest quantity spike possible stems from renewed retail enthusiasm for BNB memecoins. In contrast to different ecosystems the place meme-related quantity has declined over latest weeks, BNB Chain has seen vital progress on this sector,” mentioned Justin Barlow, head of enterprise improvement and investments at Sei Basis.
In a written evaluation shared with Cointelegraph on March 27, Barlow reviewed CoinGecko information and located that simply two BNB memecoins had been liable for roughly 13% of PancakeSwap’s every day buying and selling quantity.
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BNB Chain’s reversal of fortune
BNB Chain launched in 2020 as Binance Good Chain, positioning itself as a low-cost, quick and EVM-compatible various to Ethereum at a time when excessive gasoline charges and restricted L1 choices made Ethereum much less accessible.
It shortly attracted builders and customers however developed a fame for scammy initiatives and confronted criticism for centralization. As regulatory pressure on Binance mounted, exercise on the chain declined whereas extra decentralized and modern ecosystems like Ethereum L2s and Solana gained momentum.
PancakeSwap has develop into the centerpiece of BNB Chain’s resurgence, sustaining high-volume buying and selling throughout the community. In accordance with DefiLlama, BNB Chain led all blockchains in DEX quantity on eight days in the course of the two-week interval beginning March 15 — the identical stretch through which PancakeSwap dominated the EVM DEX panorama.
Binance-linked BNB Chain dominates second-half of March. Supply: DefiLlama
“DEX volumes are a transparent sign of person engagement and curiosity in DeFi, and sustained exercise on a platform like PancakeSwap means that retail curiosity in BNB Chain and its memecoin ecosystem is rising,” Barlow mentioned. A byproduct of DEX quantity progress is increased yields for liquidity suppliers.
Along with DEX quantity, BNB Chain not too long ago led the trade in lively addresses amongst EVM networks—and was second solely to Solana throughout all blockchain ecosystems over the previous week.
Binance-backed progress, memecoin liquidity and Broccoli
The resurgence of BNB Chain is carefully linked to the growth in memecoins. In February, BNB Chain revealed its 2025 tech roadmap, reaffirming its dedication to supporting the memecoin ecosystem.
“We’re pleased to see most of the meme software suppliers combine with BNB Chain. And we are going to proceed to work carefully with them in 2025 and past,” the announcement mentioned.
Simply days later, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao posted on X that his canine’s identify is Broccoli, a comment that sparked a wave of Broccoli-themed memecoins on BNB Chain. Zhao added that he wouldn’t be issuing a memecoin himself however would “possible work together” with just a few tokens on the community.
Supply: Changpeng Zhao
Memecoin exercise has been surging ever since. One instance got here in late March; in a now-viral commerce, one dealer reportedly invested $232 into the Mubarak memecoin to revenue $1.1 million, in response to Lookonchain.
Savvy dealer flips $232 of Mubarak memecoin into $1.1 million. Supply: Lookonchain
BNB Chain has additionally outpaced rivals in a number of core DeFi metrics. It not too long ago surpassed each Solana and Ethereum L2s in daily fees generated.
To additional assist the momentum, BNB Chain launched the “BNB Chain Meme Liquidity Assist Program” on Feb. 18. The initiative offers $200,000 in permanent liquidity to top-performing memecoins.
“Memecoins are completely driving the latest exercise. You’ll be able to see it within the sharp enhance within the variety of newly created tokens and the uptick in smaller commerce sizes, which regularly accompany memecoin hypothesis. When TVL stays secure however quantity spikes, it is normally retail buying and selling that’s driving the distinction — and proper now, that power is closely concentrated in BNB Chain’s meme sector,” Rachel Lin, CEO of DEX SynFutures, advised Cointelegraph.
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Solana vs. BNB: Who owns the memecoin crown?
Knowledge means that Solana’s memecoin sector is cooling off. In accordance with Solscan, token launches dropped to round 26,300 on March 22, the bottom since November.
Each day transaction quantity additionally hit a low of beneath 43 million on March 1, in response to Nansen, the bottom determine since November.
Solana’s transaction quantity can be on a downward development together with cooling memecoin exercise. Supply: Nansen
Even in a downtrend, Solana’s exercise ranges stay considerably increased than BNB Chain’s. Nansen information exhibits that Solana’s lowest transaction day nonetheless outpaced BNB Chain’s peak of seven.8 million transactions. However momentum seems to be shifting.
BNB Chain’s transactions rise, however nonetheless far behind Solana. Supply: Nansen
Pump.enjoyable, Solana’s memecoin launchpad, can be seeing indicators of fatigue. Fewer than 1% of new tokens meet the platform’s necessities to develop into tradable. The drop in bonding ranges factors to a cooling interval for Solana’s memecoin market. However this doesn’t essentially sign a shift in long-term dominance, mentioned Alan Orwick, co-founder of Quai Community. “This sample displays the cyclical nature of speculative curiosity throughout blockchain ecosystems, which in the end brings renewed power to DeFi.”
“This rotation seems to be influenced by regional preferences, with elevated Asian market participation driving exercise on Binance-related platforms,” Orwick mentioned.
Lin of SynFutures added that the important thing distinction between Solana and BNB Chain’s momentum is the viewers: “Solana has develop into extra native to crypto merchants, whereas BNB Chain attracts a extra world, retail-first crowd. We’re not essentially seeing one chain dominate long-term, however relatively a rotation of capital and a focus relying on person habits and transaction economics.”
The rise of BNB Chain amid Solana’s slowdown highlights the fast-moving, cyclical nature of crypto markets, particularly within the memecoin area. Whereas Solana nonetheless leads in uncooked exercise, BNB Chain is proving it could possibly seize retail consideration and drive significant quantity when the second is correct. With sturdy backing from Binance, devoted liquidity applications and viral meme momentum, BNB Chain has reclaimed relevance in DeFi.
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