Despite experiencing a 14.8% decrease in market capitalization, BNB Chain showcased impressive growth and significant technical advancements in the first quarter of 2025.
According to Messari’s in-depth Q1 report, the network generated $70.8 million in revenue, representing a remarkable quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) increase of 58.1%.
This uptick was primarily driven by a staggering 122.6% rise in wallet-to-wallet transaction fees, which now surpass DeFi as the main source of revenue.
Source: Messari
February marked a significant turning point for BNB Chain, as the rising popularity of the TST memecoin spurred heightened user engagement, leading to a record 517 million unique on-chain users on February 11.
This surge in user activity greatly contributed to BNB Chain’s increased revenue, which grew from 69,500 BNB in Q4 2024 to 109,800 BNB in Q1 2025, measured in both fiat and BNB terms.
Source: Messari
Notwithstanding BNB’s price decline, the chain retained its status as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, following Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP.
This performance was notably stronger than that of Ethereum, which suffered a significant drop of 45.2%, and Solana, which experienced a decrease of 29.6%.
The deflationary nature of the BNB ecosystem remained effective, with the 30th quarterly burn eliminating 1.6 million BNB ($1.2 billion), achieving an annualized deflation rate of 4.6%.
DeFi, DEX, and Stablecoins Anchor a Thriving Ecosystem
On-chain activity within the BNB Smart Chain showed robust growth, with average daily transactions escalating by 20.9% QoQ to reach 4.9 million. Additionally, the number of daily active addresses grew by 26.4% to 1.2 million.
Stablecoin transactions and wallet-to-wallet transfers accounted for the bulk of this activity, together making up 74.4% of all transactions.
Stablecoin usage specifically saw a 28% increase to reach 1.2 million daily transactions, while wallet transfers surged by 50.9% to 835,000 per day.
Despite prevailing market uncertainties, DeFi engagement remained resilient. Although the Total Value Locked (TVL) in USD terms dipped by 1.2% to $5.3 billion, the BNB-denominated TVL increased by 14.7%.
This growth allowed the BNB Smart Chain to secure the fourth position in total TVL rankings, overtaking a competing chain.
Decentralized exchange (DEX) activity witnessed significant advancement, with an impressive 79.3% QoQ increase, averaging $2.3 billion in daily trading volume.
PancakeSwap continued to dominate the market, maintaining a commanding 91.8% share of all DEX transactions, supported by a 95.2% boost in trading activity.
Other DeFi platforms, including Venus Finance and Kernel, also played pivotal roles. Venus led the TVL rankings despite a slight decline in asset borrowings, while Kernel saw a notable 655.6% increase in TVL, jumping from $81.9 million to over half a billion, driven by restaking incentives.
Stablecoins significantly contributed to ecosystem revenue, generating 5,745.1 BNB in Q1, reflecting a 23.4% QoQ rise, although their share of total revenue fell to 5.2%.
DeFi revenue also increased by 7.6% QoQ to 9,274.9 BNB, but fell to the second spot in revenue distribution as wallet-to-wallet fees surged. Meanwhile, MEV and infrastructure revenue saw slight dips, while bridge fees recorded a modest 8.6% rise to reach 275.1 BNB.
Upgrades Drive Long-Term Scalability
This operational growth was bolstered by a series of critical infrastructure and protocol enhancements.
The Pascal hard fork, introduced in Q1, brought several Ethereum-compatible features, including EIP-7702 smart contract wallets, BLS12-381 cryptography for efficient signature aggregation, gas abstraction, and batch transaction support.
The gas limit was also elevated from 120 million to 140 million gas units, allowing the network to accommodate more complex transactions. Pascal marks the initial upgrade in a series of three major updates scheduled for 2025.
Currently, BNB is consolidating above the $595 support level, trading close to $602, and hovering near the 100-hour simple moving average.
After establishing a base at $592, BNB rebounded past the $600 and $605 marks, achieving a peak of $611 before retreating to test the $600 level again.
The presence of a critical rising channel and a consistently strong RSI above 50 suggests bullish momentum, with resistance identified at $606 and $610.
A successful breakout above the $610 barrier could pave the way for further gains toward $620, targeting potential upside at $635 and $650.
However, failure to breach the $610 resistance could trigger renewed selling pressure.
Initial support is observed at $600, with stronger levels following at $598 and $592. A breakdown below $592 may result in a substantial decline, potentially dropping the price to $585 or even $580.
Ultimately, the short-term trajectory of BNB relies on maintaining support above $598 and overcoming the $610 resistance.
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