BNB Chain leads DEX volume this week to solidify its dominance in on-chain trading

BNB Chain leads DEX volume charts with close to $2B in 24-hour trading volume, surpassing both Ethereum and Solana over the past week. DEXs on the BNB Chain accounted for over 30% of the total DEX trading volume.

CoinMarketCap data on March 21 revealed that BNB Chain’s weekly DEX volume surged 66.7%, while Ethereum’s, Solana’s, Base’s, and Arbitrum’s weekly DEX volumes dropped 48.89%, 34.58%, 46.7%, and 51.24%, respectively. BNB Chain’s 24-hour DEX volume stood at $1.99B, Ethereum’s was a close second at ~$1.72B, while Solana, Base, and Arbitrum followed with $1.13B, $460.63M, and $416.11M, respectively.

The BNB network’s team disclosed that DEXs built on BSC have accounted for over 30% of the total DEX market share for six consecutive days since March 15, outpacing other chains and reinforcing BNB Chain’s position in the DeFi space. CoinStats noted that DEXs have seen heightened activities in the past few months, mostly driven by memecoins and speculative trading.

Solana used to be the runaway leader in DEX activities, although the BNB Chain has threatened Solana’s dominance in the past week. 

BNB Chain tops all other networks in weekly DEX trading volume 

BNB Chain leads all networks in DEX volume this week, maintaining its position as the top choice for on-chain trading.

Will it sustain this volume? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/EdRj6rZigs

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) March 22, 2025

The chain shot to the top of the DEX market in the past week, overtaking Ethereum and Solana. Defillama’s data confirmed that BNB Chain has been leading in weekly DEX trading volume and fee generation, showing strong growth despite “broader market doldrums.” 

According to data from Defillama on March 22, BNB Chain’s weekly DEX trading volume surged 81.34% while Ethereum’s, Solana’s, Base’s and Arbitrum’s DEX volumes plummeted by 44.39%, 29.99%, 43.4%, and 45.13% respectively. BNB Chain’s 24-hour DEX volume stood at over $2.6 billion, Ethereum’s DEX volume was at ~$1.44 billion, and Solana’s was slightly over $1 billion. At the same time, Base and Arbitrum recorded DEX volumes of 353.84M and 353.6M, respectively, over the same period. However, the total weekly DEX volume across all networks fell 19.82% to settle at $46.24 billion, while the 24-hour volume stood at $6.79 billion.

Defillama’s data also showed that memecoins fueled BNB Chain’s DEX volume. The network witnessed the eruption of memecoins such as MUBARAK (up 71%), BROCCOLI (market cap exceeding $101 million), and TST (which hit $500,000 in just a few hours). BNB Chain seized the opportunity to solidify its dominance as Solana faced declining trust due to major memecoin crashes like LIBRA. The influence of CZ, the co-founder of Binance, also created price triggers in the memecoin sector. 

BNB Chain embraces Pascal Hardfork upgrade amid DEX volume boom

The chain introduced the Pascal Hardfork on March 20, an upgrade designed to boost transaction efficiency and improve its compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The update came as memecoin trading continued to fuel record-breaking DEX activity on BNB Chain. 

The update integrated Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 7702, enabling advanced functionalities such as gas abstraction, smart contract wallets, and batch transactions. The Pascal Hardfork marked a major step in the network’s development, positioning it as an early adopter of this EVM enhancement.

The upgrade is also expected to improve user onboarding and provide greater flexibility for dApp developers. The Binance-backed blockchain advised node operators, validators, exchanges, and infrastructure providers to update their systems in preparation for the upgrade. Meanwhile, crypto exchanges and infrastructure providers were expected to confirm compatibility, while developers were asked to ensure that their dApps aligned with the new transaction structure. 

According to Binance, its native network has additional improvements beyond Pascal on the horizon. The Lorentz Hardfork, scheduled for April 2025, aims to reduce block times to 1.5 seconds, enhancing network speed. The Maxwell Hardfork in June 2025 will further decrease block processing times to 0.75 seconds, making transactions even faster.

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