Binance Smart Chain Make a Strong Comeback ?

Background Overview

As Solana and Ethereum become the focus of new retail and DeFi on-chain activity in 2022-2023, Binance Smart Chain (BSC) has fallen in the rankings.

However, Binance Smart Chain made an impressive comeback in May and June 2025. BSC surpassed Solana to account for 37% of the industry's DEX volume and 44% of the decentralized trading volume market share, according to data from the "DEX Volumes by Chain" Chart.

This revival focuses on Binance Alpha, an on-chain incentive program that will launch in late 2024. It includes an interface reminiscent of Launchpool and on top of that is a point-based funding airdrop tool, user acquisition, and bot-based trading.

The Return of Binance Smart Chain

With a market share peaking at 63% in 2023, Binance has been the leading CEX exchange for a long time. BSC is a key part of Binance's dominance, and throughout 2021, Binance has consistently ranked second in DEX volume behind Ethereum.

However, BSC started May 2025 with a DEX Volume share ranging from 20-30%, but quickly spiked to 44% in the middle two weeks of the month. While Solana hit its lowest peak since Q4/2023, chains like Ethereum and Base saw their market share decline.

The "Volumes by Chain on DEX" chart shows a clear trend: Ethereum maintains its position at 15-20%, Base fluctuates between 10-15%, and BSC accounts for 40-45% in the second half of May and early June 2025.

BSC has come back strong, surpassing Solana by a 44% margin in DEX volume and accounting for over 37% of total activity in the space, reversing the previous trend. BSC’s volume will be double that of Solana by the end of June.

The increased activity of Binance Alpha may be the main reason for this change. Binance Alpha is an on-chain product launched in December that allows Binance users to quickly access tokens that are not yet listed on the spot or futures markets. Since its launch, Binance Alpha has continued to expand its offerings and change its incentive process, which has led to the recent surge in activity.

Binance Alpha's new on-chain token distribution and points program based on trading activity has led to a direct increase in volume. Binance Alpha's "Volume and Transactions" chart shows that volume and number of transactions increased by more than 2 million times per day from May 1 to May 22.

Strengths driving short-term gains:

To use Binance Alpha, users first had to download Binance’s on-chain wallet and transfer funds manually. This was a cumbersome process. However, in March, the service was integrated directly into the Binance exchange interface. This allowed all users, even those without on-chain wallets, to trade Binance Alpha tokens directly from their CEX accounts using their existing balances. In addition, Binance released a new trading interface dedicated to Binance Alpha right on the main platform, providing users with a more user-friendly and professional trading experience.

Users can participate in the points system by holding or purchasing eligible tokens, but selling them does not generate points. Users can participate in airdrops and exclusive token launches (TGEs) based on their accumulated points. The model is similar to an airline mileage program: users do not have points to redeem for rewards. Since May, Binance has required users to use their points within fifteen days of receiving them; otherwise, they will be deleted. This encourages proactive participation and considers plans to retain points. Furthermore, Binance has repeatedly raised the minimum points required to qualify for rewards; although some users have criticized this, it has proven useful in increasing engagement. Additionally, users will receive more points for trading BSC network assets and providing liquidity on PancakeSwap with Binance.

The exchange continued to reduce trading fees to attract users to Binance Alpha. In March, a zero-fee trading program was added to all trading pairs on the Binance Wallet. By June, limit order fees on Binance Alpha had been slashed by a massive 14 basis points to just 0.01%. While this was not the decisive factor in the increased trading volume, the incentives clearly increased transaction speeds, reduced friction, and reduced costs for users.

Is this a prospect for Binance Smart Chain?

Binance is re-using a proven strategy of focusing on airdrops and token launch events (TGEs) to increase user engagement. This approach is similar to the Launchpool model from 2020, where users had to stake tokens to participate in the TGE. On the other hand, Binance’s focus has shifted this time: instead of focusing on token distribution, it is focusing on on-chain activity. This tactic fits the current situation, where users are increasingly eager to get early access to tokens before they are

The Binance Alpha campaign has been a success thus far, as demonstrated by Binance Smart Chain surpassing Solana in daily DEX trading volume. However, the question is whether this success is sustainable, as much of the volume comes from “reward farming” rather than organic trading. Factoring volume into the Alpha scoring system has led to practices such as fix trading, which has pushed out retail investors and given way to activities dominated by bots or whales. Indeed, posts discussing how to game the system can be found by searching for “Binance Alpha” on X—formerly Twitter.

Additionally, Binance’s Alpha Points requirement has been increased several times to qualify for airdrops and TGEs, which has left new and less engaged users marginalized. To address this, Binance removed trading volume from the list of key factors that determine Alpha Points on June 17. While this may have helped level the playing field, the change had an immediate consequence: trading volume dropped significantly from its peaks in May and early June.

In addition, Solana, a platform that leads meme token activities and has created prominent onchain trends, including animal-themed cryptocurrencies (from 2023 to 2024), AI tokens (from 2024 to 2025), and tokens based on the "internet capital markets meta" (from 2025). Binance's biggest advantage right now is its ability to provide quick access to highly anticipated tokens, something that is difficult for regular users to do. But as platforms like Echo and Legion emerge with similar services, its appeal may wane.

Galaxy Research predicts that centralized exchanges will continue to move to on-chain in the coming years. While Binance was a pioneer with its own blockchain (L1), on-chain users are becoming more sophisticated, and applications like Binance Alpha are prone to manipulation and are less sustainable if left unchecked. To maintain its position, Binance needs to invest more in building on-chain applications that provide real long-term value, attract real users, and generate stable capital flows. For example, Coinbase partnered with Morpho to integrate an on-chain BTC lending service for CEX users, attracting over $430 million in just a few weeks without any issues with wash trading.

Ultimately, Binance Alpha’s primary goal may not be to generate volume or engagement, but rather to screen assets. It is possible that Binance Alpha could become an early discovery channel for truly valuable tokens that will shape the exchange’s listing portfolio, if Binance continues to optimize its system to eliminate spam and attract users to participate in new on-chain projects. This would solidify Binance’s position in the digital asset market and help solve the problem of a lack of clear evaluation mechanisms in the crypto world.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is the author's personal opinion on the cryptocurrency field. It is not intended to be financial or investment advice. Any investment decision should be based on careful consideration of your personal portfolio and risk tolerance. The views expressed in the article do not represent the official position of the platform. We recommend that readers conduct their own research and consult with a professional before making any investment decisions.

API & Data : Dune, Atermis, Galaxy Digital

Compiled and analyzed by HCCVenture

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