BNB Chain daily DEX volume hits $6 billion, highest since June, as meme coins drive PancakeSwap surge
Driven by PancakeSwap and a new wave of BNB-based meme coins, BNB Chain’s DEX trading volume hits its highest level since June 2025, signaling renewed retail enthusiasm in decentralized markets.
According to the latest data from DeFi Llama, the DEX trading volume on Binance Smart Chain (BSC) soared to $6.05 billion on October 8, marking its highest level since June 2025.
Although still shy of the chain’s record peak of $7.05 billion on June 30, 2025, the surge highlights a sharp rebound in on-chain activity driven largely by meme coin speculation and retail trading momentum.
In the past 30 days alone, BNB Chain’s DEX trading volume has reached an impressive $103.13 billion, showing a 15.65% week-over-week increase, according to on-chain analytics. The majority of this liquidity has come from PancakeSwap, BNB Chain’s flagship decentralized exchange and meme coin launchpad which accounted for $4.28 billion in daily volume.
By comparison, Uniswap, Ethereum’s dominant decentralized exchange, registered $1.30 billion in daily volume, while Four.meme, another meme coin hub on BNB Chain, contributed $139.15 million on October 8.
BNB Chain is clearly benefiting from a retail-driven trading cycle, said Tom Wan, Senior Researcher at 21Shares.
The increase in DEX trading volume reflects renewed confidence in decentralized platforms following a slowdown in Solana-based meme coin launches earlier this year.
PancakeSwap dominates as meme coin mania drives liquidity
The renewed spike in DEX trading volume is largely attributed to the explosive popularity of meme coins on the BNB Chain. Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) even acknowledged the trend in a recent X post, declaring that “meme coin season has officially begun” on BSC which is a shift from the earlier dominance of Solana-based meme launches through platforms like Pump.fun.
According to BubbleMaps, more than 100,000 traders have recently participated in BNB-based meme coin markets, with around 70% of them turning a profit. This influx of users has pushed PancakeSwap’s daily trading volumes to levels not seen since the DeFi boom of 2021.
Over the past month, PancakeSwap alone generated $78 billion in on-chain DEX volume, nearly 75% of all trading on the BNB Chain. Meanwhile, Four.meme, a new launchpad designed specifically for viral BNB tokens, has contributed $815 million in 30-day trading activity.
Retail traders are once again the heartbeat of BNB Chain,”l said Elena Kvochko, Chief Trust Officer at Circle. The rise in DEX trading volume shows that despite volatility, user interest in DeFi and token speculation remains strong.
Binance Coin (BNB)
Profits soar for BNB meme coin traders
Data from BubbleMaps also revealed that the current meme coin cycle on BNB Chain has produced several notable success stories. One trader reportedly earned over $10 million from meme coin trades, while 44 wallets gained $1 million or more in profits. An additional 900 traders secured at least $100,000 in gains.
Cumulatively, the total profit made by meme coin traders on BSC amounts to $401 million, underscoring the financial scale of the ongoing frenzy.
However, not all traders have been as fortunate. Around 4,400 wallets registered losses of approximately $1,000 each, and two traders saw losses exceeding $1 million. Still, the ratio of winners to losers roughly 7 to 1 demonstrates the profitability of this meme coin season for many retail participants.
Industry analysts note that the DEX trading volume growth is being fueled by speculative retail activity rather than institutional participation. While this can lead to short-term volatility, it also underscores DeFi’s enduring appeal as a permissionless market for high-risk, high-reward trades.
We’re seeing retail liquidity return in waves, said Kyle Waters, Analyst at Coin Metrics. BNB Chain’s ability to sustain this DEX trading volume over multiple weeks will determine whether this rally becomes a structural shift or just a temporary hype cycle.
The road ahead for BNB Chain and DeFi markets
As BNB Chain consolidates its position as a leading network for decentralized trading, the surge in DEX trading volume may attract more developers, traders, and projects seeking faster settlements and lower fees than Ethereum’s mainnet.
In 2024, Binance Smart Chain faced criticism for centralization concerns, but recent months have seen improved validator diversity and expanded liquidity pools through initiatives like BNB Greenfield and opBNB. These technical improvements, combined with meme coin mania, have revived market participation.
The question now is whether BNB Chain can sustain this level of activity beyond the meme coin wave. Analysts predict that continued growth in DEX trading volume could spur the next phase of DeFi innovation with a mix of speculative assets, yield products, and tokenized real-world assets driving liquidity.
Meme coins may be the entry point, but they often lead users deeper into DeFi, said Riyad Carey, Research Analyst at Kaiko. What begins as speculation could evolve into a broader ecosystem of financial experimentation on BNB Chain.
For now, all eyes remain on PancakeSwap and its counterparts to see whether the current trading spike signals a sustainable resurgence or another fleeting bubble in the ever-volatile world of decentralized finance.