BNB Chain has surged to its highest daily decentralized exchange (DEX) volume in three months, hitting $3.22 billion in trades on May 14, according to DefiLlama data.
This spike marks a notable resurgence in on-chain activity for the Binance-backed blockchain, hinting at renewed market interest amid broader ecosystem developments and strategic protocol upgrades.
A Resurgence in Trading Activity
Crypto entrepreneur Elja Boom flagged the uptick in a May 15 post on X. While the volume is still far from its all-time high of $12.99 billion, registered on May 19, 2021, it represents an important turnaround after months of relatively subdued activity.
On that same day, other leading blockchains saw mixed performances. Solana had the best, hitting $4.549 billion to edge out BNB Chain as well as Ethereum’s more subdued $2.753 billion in DEX volume. Meanwhile, Tron was relatively lacklustre, only managing to attract about $218.36 million.
DEX volumes are often crucial in decentralized finance (DeFi) as they provide insights into market activity, liquidity, and trader engagement.
Looking at the entirety of 2025, decentralized exchanges on Solana enjoyed the highest volumes in a single 24-hour period, with nearly $36 billion changing hands on them on January 18. BSC and Ethereum’s best numbers pale in comparison. The former raked in $8.45 billion on January 20, and the latter saw about $7.65 billion worth of trading activity on its DEXs on February 3.
Upcoming Upgrades Could Boost Adoption
The recent BNB Chain volume boost comes amid a broader push to modernize its infrastructure. As revealed in a February 12 update, the network plans to roll out sub-second block times, gasless transactions, and AI-powered tools this year.
These improvements are meant to support at least 100 million transactions daily while also making the chain more accessible to mainstream users and developers.
Adding to the momentum, the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) launched its USD1 stablecoin on BNB Chain and Ethereum in early March, with Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX later announcing it would use it to settle a $2 billion investment in Binance.
The rebound could be a sign of a broader trend of capital rotation across blockchains. Ethereum remains the dominant Layer 1 network for DeFi with a total value locked (TVL) of $60.96 billion, even though it dropped 4.91% in the last 24 hours. However, market watchers like Boom believe BNB Chain’s rising DEX volume may suggest renewed confidence in the platform. As he put it, “BNB Chain season is back again.”
