cryptopolitan.com
Meme token activity is not entirely gone, but traders are seeking new markets. In the past weeks, activity shifted to $BNB Chain and PancakeSwap.
$BNB Chain and PancakeSwap now carry more meme token activity in comparison to Solana (SOL). Meme token launches drove users to the $BNB Smart Chain, with several short-term rallies for memes like Mubarak.
After the recent spike in volumes, Binance’s founder and former CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao posted on X, with a call to build under any market conditions. However, ‘CZ’ Zhao warned against aggressive token promotions, which may lead to rug pulls and losses.
Not a competition. Keep building!
(Deleted the previous retweet as I didn’t notice it contained a CA, which our security team flagged as super high risk, lack ownership transparency, etc. Can’t be too careful these days. Stay SAFU.🙏) https://t.co/HHde6enLBG
— CZ 🔶 $BNB (@cz_binance) March 17, 2025
As a result of its recent popularity, $BNB Chain is now the main venue for new launches that reflect social media trends. Demand for such launches and trades led $BNB Chain to surpass Solana in terms of volumes. In the past week, activity on $BNB Chain increased by another 13.47%, as the network makes a comeback following a prolonged bear market.
$BNB Chain peaked during the 2021 bull market and established itself as a cheaper, faster version of Ethereum for Web3 activity. The chain also carries versions of most meme tokens, but is now becoming the primary launchpad.
The network carried $1.63B in volumes for the past 24 hours, surpassing Solana’s $1.07B. Ethereum (ETH) remains in the third place, though the network is hardly used for memes. The $BNB Chain activity increased after adding the MEV protection feature, which meant fewer sandwich attacks and losses.
DEX trading is the top activity on $BNB Chain
PancakeSwap V2 and V3 are the two most actively used apps on $BNB Chain. The inflow of users happened in the past few months, and is a mix of incentives and organic volumes. Based on DappRadar data, the DEX carries over 60K daily users in its two most active versions. OKX DEX as a Web3 feature is also highly active. Four.meme, the chain’s native meme launchpad, is in the top 5 of the most active apps.
$BNB Smart Chain is also climbing up the ranks in terms of DeFi activity, though still remaining the fourth most active network. One of the reasons is that $BNB Chain, like Solana, was used for its low cost and accessibility as a token trading platform and a meme casino.
PancakeSwap carries a significant part of its trade against $CAKE, boosting the token’s liquidity. The DEX also carries a market for bridged $USDT. The rest of the activity is spread across established and trending memes.
CZ’s Dog (BROCCOLI) is the third-largest market. Newly trending token MUBARAK rose by 262% in its early price discovery stage, entering the top 10 of assets. MUBARAK also rallied after ‘CZ’ Zhao invested 1 $BNB into the token, drawing attention in addition to being linked to the spring holiday in the Islamic world.
The V3 of the exchange is mostly used for $USDT activity, though MUBARAK also broke through among the top 10 most active assets. The chain does not support as many launches as Solana, but the goal is to provide a more sustainable platform with curated liquidity to avoid rug pulls.
The Binance ecosystem, unlike Solana, relies on screening and pre-selection. As a result, memes are more rare, but also more liquid when they launch. The Four.meme site does not work as a high-speed coin casino, but shows there is still enthusiasm for memes and for tokenizing trends.
$BNB breaks above market trend
After the signs of $BNB Smart Chain reviving, the native asset also gained positions, despite the slowdown for other coins and tokens. $BNB rallied from $599 to $630.11 overnight, based on demand for DEX trading pairs.
$CAKE expanded by 16.5%, rising to $2.16, while remaining the most actively swapped asset on PancakeSwap. The recent outperformance started talk of a $BNB season, where the chain and its ecosystem develop ahead of other networks.
$BNB remains a proxy token to hold during a bull run, as Binance remains the biggest beneficiary of increased trading. $BNB open interest responded immediately, rising from the $580M range to over $622M within hours. The token responds quickly to multiple bullish factors, including the social media influence of ‘CZ’ Zhao.