During most of the 2023–2026 cycle, altcoin prices were generally unattractive, forcing many cryptocurrency traders to primarily focus on Bitcoin. However, with a moderately optimistic sentiment gradually returning to the market, a closer look reveals that not all altcoins are struggling. In fact, the total market capitalization of altcoins remains stable above the $1 trillion threshold — specifically, $1.17 trillion — and a 9% increase over the past week has sparked positive signals.
Among major altcoins, BNB Chain stands out with relative strength and sustainable stability. Currently ranked fifth in market capitalization after BTC, ETH, USDT, and XRP, BNB has a value of about $89 billion. Some analysts consider BNB to be one of the best-resilient altcoins during this period.
As João Wedson, founder of Alphractal, points out using data from the cryptocurrency heatmap of declines:
"While most altcoins have dropped by as much as -98.5% from their all-time highs, BNB stands out alongside BTC as one of the few coins least affected — and notably, BNB is also one of the few to reach a new ATH in the current cycle."
According to Wedson, BNB's momentum comes not only from price volatility but is also bolstered by solid fundamentals, including a robust development ecosystem of BNB Chain and the increasingly important role of BNB in the DeFi space. He states:
"BNB is one of the few altcoins with real utility, solid fundamentals, and an increasing level of acceptance, making it the most outstanding performing altcoin alongside Bitcoin."
Is BNB truly the most resilient altcoin?
When looking solely at the price performance of the leading smart contract platform coins, the picture becomes much more nuanced. BNB has indeed reached a new peak in this cycle, but it is not alone — XRP, TRX, and SOL have also set similar milestones. However, for Solana, the new peak is just slightly above the 2021 peak by about 1%.
When comparing the current price with the peak of the previous cycle (mainly occurring in May or November 2021), BNB has only decreased by about 10% — a positive figure compared to ETH (down 63%) and Solana (down 40%). Notably, XRP (+19%) and TRX (+49%) have even shown stronger breakout performances.
Another financial advantage of BNB is the extremely low dilution risk of supply. According to data from Messari on the Market Cap/Fully Diluted Valuation (Market Cap/FDV) ratio, 96.51% of the total BNB supply is in circulation, comparable to Ethereum (99.93%) and TRX (99.96%). This indicates that the risk of future token inflation for BNB is almost negligible. In contrast, Solana (86.33%) and especially XRP (58.33%) still face relatively high dilution risks.
However, despite the impressive price performance, that is only part of the story. It is the solid fundamental factors that truly explain why BNB is highly regarded for its resilience in this cycle.
Activity on BNB Chain drives the value of altcoins
Beyond speculative factors, the real value of BNB is determined by the level of application on BNB Chain — a general term that refers to both BNB Smart Chain (the core blockchain) and Beacon Chain (serving governance and staking). BNB Chain focuses on developing areas such as gaming, DeFi, launchpad, and large-scale consumer DApps. Recently, this ecosystem has also stepped into the "memecoin game," attracting a significant amount of trading volume that used to belong to Solana. BNB's role as the leading altcoin on the world's top centralized exchange further strengthens its competitive advantage.
According to data from Messari, BNB Chain processes about 4 million transactions daily — far exceeding Ethereum (1 million transactions) and XRP Ledger (1.8 million), but still behind Tron (5.5 million) and significantly lower than Solana (54 million transactions excluding votes per day).
In terms of the number of daily active addresses, BNB Chain also shows impressive performance with around 1.1 million addresses — significantly higher than Ethereum (384,800) and XRP Ledger (55,600), but still behind Tron (2.4 million) and Solana (3.7 million).
The standout highlight of BNB Chain is its DApp ecosystem scale. According to statistics from DappRadar, this platform supports up to 5,686 DApps — surpassing Ethereum (4,987) and far outpacing Polygon (2,402). This achievement further confirms Wedson's assertion of a "huge" BNB ecosystem, helping BNB Chain solidify its leading position as Web3 enters a strong growth phase.
BNB Chain currently holds the third position in total value locked (TVL) in the DeFi space, reaching $5.8 billion, only behind Ethereum ($50.5 billion) and Solana ($8 billion), according to data from DefiLlama. This blockchain platform shows a clear focus on developing the decentralized finance sector. Notably, on March 24, trading volume on DEXs within the BNB Chain ecosystem temporarily exceeded all other blockchains, recording a total trading value of $14.3 billion within a week.
The growth potential of BNB Chain's revenue
Blockchain revenue plays a key role in ensuring sustainability and long-term growth potential, often reflected in the total transaction fees generated by the network.
In 2024, Ethereum leads with $2.5 billion in transaction fees, followed by Tron ($2.1 billion), Bitcoin ($923 million), and Solana ($751 million), according to data from CoinGecko. BNB Chain ranks fifth with $194 million. Conversely, XRP — due to utility limitations — only generated $1.1 million in blockchain revenue.
As of now in 2025, the revenue ranking is quite volatile, but BNB Chain still maintains its fifth position. According to data from Messari, over the past 30 days, Tron has surged ahead with $272 million in transaction fees, followed by Solana ($34.7 million), Ethereum ($20.8 million), and BNB Chain ($17.1 million).
Overall, while BNB may not always rank first in every metric, the platform consistently maintains a commendable third position among leading smart contract platforms. The healthy performance indicators of BNB Chain contribute to relative price stability throughout the entire sector.
The revenue of this blockchain remains its biggest weakness compared to competitors. However, if the promise of Web3 is realized and the pace of application increases, BNB Chain's dominance in the DApp space could become its greatest advantage.
You can view the detailed BNB price.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Investors should conduct thorough research before making decisions. We are not responsible for your investment decisions.
