The on-chain traffic war intensifies. How will BNB Chain transition from Meme hype to financial infrastructure?

Market Sentiment Has Changed

As October begins, a new trend is quietly spreading in the crypto world. Meme coins on BNB Chain with Chinese names suddenly explode in popularity, with overseas players starting to follow suit by learning Chinese and participating in trading. This is different from the previous Meme craze led by Solana—this time, the main stage has completely shifted to BNB Chain.

Creation and trading activity around these topic coins are soaring, on-chain discussions are heating up, and BNB’s price has also risen significantly driven by market sentiment, making it the second most prominent mainstream asset after BTC.

But a turning point has emerged. The industry fluctuation event on October 11 temporarily heightened market anxiety, and the popularity of Chinese Meme coins cooled down. Interestingly, the competitor that broke the deadlock inadvertently promoted BNB Chain—an executive from a leading public chain platform used these Meme coins as examples during a demo, unexpectedly spreading this scene across communities. This not only boosted cross-chain recognition of BNB Chain topic coins but also reignited discussion enthusiasm.

Following the event, the exchange launched a subsidy program, and the entire market gradually entered a self-repair phase. On-chain activity rebounded, mainstream assets steadily recovered. Despite the turbulence, the market’s endogenous momentum remains intact—by the end of Q3 2025, the total market cap of crypto assets exceeded $4.02 trillion.

The Big Players’ Trading Volume Story

Numbers speak for themselves.

During Q3, the exchange’s spot and derivatives trading volumes both increased. With a total trading volume of $9.93 trillion, the platform continued to hold over one-third of the market share—meaning continuous fee income.

The top 10 exchanges contributed a combined $28.7 trillion in Q3, a 32.87% increase from Q2. Among them, spot trading reached $4.9 trillion, up 36.11%; derivatives trading hit $23.7 trillion, up 17.32%. The overall market is expanding, but the distribution of market share is becoming more consolidated.

This exchange holds 34.59% of the market share, with others taking 12.60%, 11.58%, 11.45%, and 11.36%. The gap seems small, but this “one superpower with many strong contenders” pattern is hard to break in the short term.

In the spot market, this exchange’s share reached 41.26%, a 3.27% increase from Q2; in derivatives, its share is 33.20%, up 1%. Both sectors are strengthening their dominant positions.

The most telling indicator is net inflow. During Q3, the exchange set a record with $14.8 billion in net inflows, with funds continuously flowing into top players, further solidifying its position in centralized exchanges.

But there’s a hidden issue: when the overall market size expands but no “share shift” occurs, it indicates everyone is eating the same cake. To gain incremental growth, relying solely on zero-sum competition among exchanges is no longer enough. Eyes must turn outward—toward the on-chain world.

The New Battlefield on the Chain

This idea has long been on the radar of industry giants.

BNB Chain’s performance in Q3 clearly illustrates this. According to the latest data, it was listed alongside Solana and Avalanche as one of the “Best Performing Blockchains of Q3 2025.” DEX trading volume reached $225 billion, the highest since Q4 2021, second only to Solana’s $365 billion and Ethereum’s $337 billion.

More noteworthy is the number of active addresses. In September, BNB Chain’s active addresses surpassed 52.5 million, a 57% month-over-month increase, overtaking Solana’s 45.8 million and Ethereum’s 8.9 million. Transaction count also surged, from 892 million in Q2 to 1.22 billion in Q3.

This growth in activity directly translated into revenue. BNB Chain generated $357 million in fee income by the end of Q3, with $2.2 million in September alone—hitting a new high since March. This public chain is not only running volume but also demonstrating profitability.

In terms of ecosystem depth, the number of protocols on BSC has reached 1,033, 2.7 times that of Solana, gradually approaching Ethereum’s 1,638. On-chain TVL hit $8.729 billion, still behind Ethereum’s $87.415 billion, but with a monthly growth rate of 15.02%, the fastest among the top 10 public chains. In just three months, it may catch up with Solana’s $11.368 billion.

Breakthroughs in the DEX Ecosystem

Growth isn’t spontaneous; it’s supported by concrete products.

Alpha ignited ecosystem growth in Q2. This product integrated spot trading functions and, combined with Alpha’s airdrop incentives, completely boosted BNB Chain’s popularity. By Q3, the perpetual contract DEX platform Aster took the stage.

Aster’s growth was astonishing. In September, its single-day revenue reached $7.2 million, even surpassing the veteran project Hyperliquid’s $2.79 million. Thanks to Aster’s popularity, BNB Chain’s perpetual contract trading volume soared 55% in Q3, reaching $36 billion.

These two DEX products form a complete closed loop—Alpha handles spot trading, Aster handles derivatives. It’s like rebuilding a “small exchange” framework on-chain.

However, the growth of DEX trading volume also exposes a real issue: the network needs to process more transactions. High-frequency trading causes gas fees to skyrocket, which conflicts with the goal of attracting users to the chain ecosystem.

The Fee Reduction Battle

Smart moves have emerged. On September 24, BNB Chain validators proposed lowering the minimum gas price from 0.1 Gwei to 0.05 Gwei, and shortening block time from 750 milliseconds to 450 milliseconds. This was the third major fee reduction in the past 18 months.

Looking back, the chain reduced fees from 3 Gwei to 1 Gwei in April 2024, and from 1 Gwei to 0.1 Gwei in May 2025, totaling a 75% reduction.

The effects are significant. After the May fee cut, median transaction fees dropped 75% (from $0.04 to $0.01), and daily transaction count surged 140%, surpassing 12 million. There’s a strong correlation between lower fees and higher network activity—lower costs lead to more user engagement.

The goal of this strategic move is clear: upgrade BNB Chain from a general-purpose public chain to the underlying infrastructure of the financial system.

Re-evaluating BNB’s Value

All these on-chain activities are reflected in one token—BNB.

By the end of Q3, BNB’s market cap reached $145.998 billion, re-entering the top 3 of crypto assets. From its all-time high of $1376, the market’s valuation of it continues to rise. But this isn’t just speculation; there are deeper reasons behind it.

First, institutional participation. Since June, several traditional listed companies announced including BNB in their balance sheets. By Q3, this momentum intensified. On August 25, a well-known investment firm announced a $1 billion funding to establish a U.S.-listed company holding BNB as a financial asset. On October 13, a Hong Kong investment bank announced raising $600 million to launch a BNB-focused treasury in the U.S.

Meanwhile, SoftBank’s payment app acquired a 40% stake in related entities in October, further confirming the rising mainstream financial status of crypto assets.

More importantly, the practice of RWA (Real World Asset on Chain) is gaining ground. On September 24, a global investment giant managing $1.6 trillion announced expanding its tech platform to BNB Chain, aiming to leverage its high throughput to enhance institutional tokenization. On October 15, a wholly owned subsidiary of a major bank brought a money market fund with over $3.8 billion in assets onto BNB Chain, allowing investors to subscribe using fiat or stablecoins.

These moves are significant. RWA isn’t hype; it’s the real connection between traditional financial assets and Web3 technology. Large-scale adoption will validate the value of chain infrastructure—this is a more transformative new world compared to Meme coin hype.

The Starry Sea

Returning to the initial question: where is BNB’s next growth point?

From Meme coins to institutional adoption, from exchange platform tokens to comprehensive crypto assets, BNB has broken out of its original narrative framework. For traders, it can offset fees; for investors, it’s a ticket to earn yields through mechanisms like Launchpool; for developers, it’s the Gas to build applications on BNB Chain.

When traditional financial institutions like Franklin D. Dempsey and China Merchants Bank International adopt BNB Chain, this public chain will have the chance to achieve its true goal—becoming the cornerstone of the financial system.

Beyond the hype of Meme speculation, after reaching a new high of $1376, BNB’s real journey is heading toward this vast starry sea.