Airdrop Army

BNB, the engine behind the BNB Chain, saw its price rise 4.1% from October 10 to October 11, bouncing back after it flirted with the $555 support. Despite the broader altcoin market dipping 15.6%, BNB stood firm since July, making it the third-largest cryptocurrency. It holds a cool $15 billion market cap advantage over Solana, flexing its dominance in the crypto jungle.

Onchain Activity Plummets

But all’s not smooth for BNB, as onchain activity fell 37% this week, raising investor concerns. The slowdown has many scratching their heads, especially with Ethereum’s Layer-2 scaling solutions gaining steam. Coinbase’s Base network came out swinging, boasting low-cost, fast integration, which is tough to ignore. As the Base buzz grows, traders wonder if BNB’s price surge is more of a mirage than a steady ascent.

BNB’s value gets a lot of juice from Binance perks like trading fee discounts and launchpad exclusives. But beyond exchange-driven demand, BNB is woven into the ecosystem, powering DApps for staking, trading, yield farming, and even gaming. Yet, the BNB Chain’s DApp volumes are feeling the burn. PancakeSwap and Uniswap saw weekly volumes tumble by 25% and 22%, respectively. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s DApp volumes dropped only 9%, and Solana’s fell by 15%, according to DefiLlama.

Network Fees Hit the Floor

It’s not just the DApp activity that’s seeing a slump. Network fees on BNB Chain also sank to their lowest levels in more than four years. For the week ending October 7, total fees reached just 1,880 BNB, marking a 56% drop from the previous week.

So, while BNB’s price seems to defy gravity, its ecosystem shows cracks. Ethereum remains steady, locking in 19.2 million ETH as total value locked (TVL) stays flat. Solana, on the other hand, surged ahead, hitting 40.9 million SOL in TVL, a 26% jump over the past two months. That puts BNB’s price resilience into question, as it lags behind key competitors in network activity.

Binance’s Fees Draw Criticism

Meanwhile, Binance itself is getting some heat. Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, claims token issuers must buy around $5 million worth of BNB for listings. That’s causing unease, especially as recent token launches have struggled, with projects like Hamster Kombat (HMSTR) and DOGS tanking after hitting the market. ZerebusX, a popular X user, noted, “This isn’t the Binance we know.”