decrypt.co
While Bitcoin and Ethereum have grabbed headlines with new all-time highs in recent weeks, $BNB has quietly outperformed its top-ten crypto rivals over the past year.
Year-to-date, $BNB's 85.6% gains put it at the front of the pack, dwarfing Ethereum’s second place returns of 37.7%. Of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, TRON, Bitcoin and Solana have managed YTD gains in the lower double-digits, while the remainder of the top ten have generated single-digit returns.
$BNB is currently trading at $1,300, up 30.7% over the past week, per CoinGecko data.
“$BNB’s recent rally has been largely driven by increased on-chain activity and growing institutional interest,” Illia Otychenko, lead analyst at CEX.IO, told Decrypt.
DEXs drive growth
This on-chain activity is particularly evident in the explosive growth of decentralized exchange (DEX) trading on the $BNB Chain.
A significant driver has been the speculative frenzy around Aster, a recently launched $BNB Chain-based decentralized exchange backed by Binance co-founder CZ’s investment firm YZi Labs.
Hopes of a potential Aster airdrop have drawn substantial volume to $BNB Chain, helping it to emerge as the dominant platform for perpetuals trading. Over the past week, $BNB Chain has seen a staggering $511.8 billion in trading volume, per Dune Analytics data—dwarfing competitors like Hyperliquid ($45.63 billion) and EdgeX ($23.85 billion).
However, users of prediction market Myriad, launched by Decrypt’s parent company DASTAN, are bearish on Aster’s prospects in the medium term, placing a 72% chance on its token remaining below $4 through November.
$BNB itself, however, has seen its price surge underpinned by key metrics, Otychenko said, noting that “over the past month, $BNB Chain’s monthly active addresses surged by over 18%, while the total value locked grew by more than $2 billion.”
He also pointed to macro-institutional tailwinds, including “speculation about a potential U.S. spot $BNB ETF and reports of companies such as Jiuzi Holdings and Alem Crypto Fund adding $BNB to their treasuries.”
Nevertheless, Otychenko tempered his outlook, noting that from a technical standpoint a pullback may be imminent due to fading bullish momentum.