Crypto whales drive NFT activity on BNB chain by over 280% QoQ

Crypto whales have dominated NFT trading activity on the BNB Chain during Q3 2024, despite a decrease in retail participation.

According to Messari’s latest quarterly report, the average daily NFT trading volume skyrocketed by 283% quarter-over-quarter. It has reached $600,400 from Q2’s $156,900.

Daily NFT sales on BNB Chain show positive momentum

The substantial increase in trading volume presents an interesting contrast to user participation metrics. Even though daily trading volumes saw decent growth, the average daily number of unique buyers decreased by 53% to 2,300 users. This divergence suggests that whales were the primary drivers of market activity rather than retail participants.

Daily NFT sales showed positive momentum, increasing by 47% quarter-over-quarter to reach 8,900 transactions. This growth in transaction count, coupled with fewer unique buyers, further reinforces the observation that individual traders were executing larger and more frequent transactions.

BNB Chain experiences moderate pressure in Q3

BNB Chain’s native token experienced moderate pressure during Q3. Its market capitalization declined 4% quarter-over-quarter to $82.79 billion. BNB also lost its position as the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market cap, as Solana surged to $200. Network revenue faced more challenges, with total fees collected decreasing 28% quarter-over-quarter from $48.4 million to $34.9 million.

When measured in BNB tokens, revenue declined 22% from 81,300 BNB to 63,500 BNB in Q3. DeFi-related transactions saw their share decrease by 6% to represent 16% of total revenue. Conversely, wallet-to-wallet transactions gained ground, with revenue increasing 53% quarter-over-quarter to 8,800 BNB.

DeFi ecosystem remained resilient in Q3

BNB Chain’s DeFi ecosystem demonstrated resilience in Q3. The total value locked (TVL) increased slightly by 2% to reach $4.85 billion.

Venus Finance emerged as a standout performer within the ecosystem, increasing its TVL by 13% quarter-over-quarter to $1.79 billion. By the end of Q3, Venus Finance commanded 37% of BNB Chain’s total TVL, up from 34% in the previous quarter. However, the protocol saw a 36% decrease in borrows from $707 million to $454 million.

PancakeSwap, the second-largest protocol by TVL, experienced a modest 5% decline to $1.64 billion. The protocol’s TVL composition at quarter-end showed AMM V3 accounting for 23% of total value, while the traditional AMM represented 73%.

Combined, Venus Finance and PancakeSwap dominated the ecosystem, representing 71% of BNB Chain’s total TVL.

BNB Chain underwent technical upgrades in Q3

BNB Chain underwent major technical upgrades during Q3. It also implemented several crucial hard forks and improvements.

The Bohr Hardfork, implemented on September 25, introduced four key BEPs (BNB Evolution Proposals) that enhanced validator operations and block header functionality. The network’s security metrics remained strong, with 45 active validators maintaining network stability following the Feynman Upgrade.

Total BNB staked increased by 7% quarter-over-quarter to 32.4 million tokens, equivalent to $18.3 billion. The ecosystem’s growth was further supported by various development initiatives. This includes the TVL Incentive Program’s Phase 4, which allocated $300,000 in rewards across liquid staking and DeFi categories.

The network also launched the Gas-Free Carnival initiative, eliminating transfer fees for stablecoin transactions to boost adoption. “The Q3 data demonstrates BNB Chain’s ability to attract and retain significant capital despite market headwinds,” noted Messari in their report.