- BNB Chain’s DEX volume surged 400% in a month, driven by PancakeSwap activity, low fees, and strong DeFi adoption trends.
- Solana saw early dominance but dropped to second place as trading volume declined sharply after peaking mid-May.
- Ethereum showed moderate growth and steady decline, lagging behind due to slower user engagement and ecosystem momentum.
As per CryptoRank data, BNB Chain has surged to the top of the decentralized exchange (DEX) leaderboard, surpassing Ethereum and Solana in daily trading volume. Over the last 24 hours, BNB Chain recorded $4.9 billion in volume. PancakeSwap, its flagship DEX, contributed over $3 billion of that figure. This marks a shift in trader activity and network preference.
BNB Chain’s rise reflects growing user trust, scalable infrastructure, and sustained DeFi innovation. Its low fees and fast transactions are attracting new users and liquidity providers alike. Hence, the chain’s rapid growth points to changing fundamentals in the DEX ecosystem.
BNB Chain Shows Explosive Growth
From April 19 to May 19, 2025, BNB Chain posted a 400% rise in trading volume. It began near $1.2 billion daily and remained stable through late April. However, things changed around May 4 when volumes started to rise sharply. By May 12, daily volume reached $3 billion. Moreover, this growth didn’t slow down. On May 16, BNB Chain surpassed $4 billion. Just three days later, it hit $5 billion.
Source: CryptoRank
Besides strong price action, BNB Chain’s performance reflects increasing DeFi adoption. Developers and projects continue to migrate to its low-cost and efficient ecosystem. Consequently, user engagement and transaction counts have seen a notable uptick. This organic activity separates it from chains seeing volume driven mostly by speculation.
Solana and Ethereum Show Mixed Trends
Solana started the period strong, leading all chains with $1.5 billion in daily DEX volume. It peaked at $3.3 billion on April 24. A second surge on May 9 brought volume up to $4.2 billion. However, the momentum faded by May 14. By May 19, Solana’s daily volume dropped to $2.5 billion. Despite that, it still held the second spot.
Ethereum followed a steadier path. It started at $0.8 billion and peaked at $3.4 billion on May 8. Afterwards, the volume declined gradually, ending near $2 billion. Compared to BNB Chain, both Ethereum and Solana showed higher volatility and weaker user retention.
