BNB Chain overtakes TRON with over 190M stablecoin users, captures 47% of DEX market: ARK Invest

BNB Chain has overtaken TRON to grow to be probably the most lively community for stablecoin transactions, fueled by rising DEX quantity and spillovers from Binance’s buying and selling incentives. However analysts at ARK Make investments famous that the house has grow to be extra fragmented.

BNB Chain has quietly dethroned TRON as the most important community in stablecoin exercise.

In keeping with ARK Make investments’s “The DeFi Quarterly” report, roughly 192 million addresses have interacted with them for the reason that first stablecoin hit the market. Tether’s (USDT) dominates with about 115 million of these, whereas the now-defunct Binance USD (BUSD) nonetheless accounts for 35 million, and USD Coin (USDC) is shut behind with 31 million.

Stablecoins by issuer and chains | Supply: ARK Make investments

As ARK analysts put it, quarterly adjusted transaction quantity for stablecoins “has since grown 43%, reaching almost $9 trillion within the third quarter of 2025,” implying that stablecoins are circulating sooner and throughout extra networks than ever earlier than.

Community shares

Ethereum continues to be the largest elephant within the room. Particularly for those who embody the Layer 2s like Base and Arbitrum, which collectively deal with round 48% of whole stablecoin transactions. In the meantime, TRON constructed its footprint by transporting USDT flows into rising markets, a dynamic that saved it related lengthy after newer gamers entered the scene.

However community shares have shifted, because the report reveals that Ethereum’s share of the stablecoin provide has elevated from 51% to 55%, whereas TRON’s has fallen from 32% to 26%. And someplace in that realignment, BNB Chain stepped in and picked up the slack as Solana misplaced floor and its buying and selling operations migrated elsewhere.

Lively stablecoin addresses per chain | Supply: ARK Make investments

This line from the report reveals the change in provide allocation throughout chains. BNB Chain’s good points got here as Solana misplaced floor and spot DEX exercise shifted.

DEX quantity tells the identical story. For the reason that finish of 2024, decentralized buying and selling has elevated by about 61%, from about $1 trillion to $1.7 trillion. In the meantime, Solana’s share fell from 47% to 19%, whereas BNB Chain’s soared from 11% to 47%.

Tree of TVL

As ARK Make investments defined, the change adopted Binance’s zero-fee buying and selling program, noting that this system “induced a surge in PancakeSwap quantity and redirected memecoin buying and selling from Solana to BNB Chain.”

This system additionally made sure buying and selling flows extra engaging on BNB Chain, as merchants shifted memecoin and retail liquidity to the chain that was intently tied to Binance, the report stated.

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Furthermore, BNB Chain additionally distinguishes itself by buying and selling effectivity. As of Q3 2025, the chain had probably the most spot DEX quantity relative to whole worth locked (TVL). In keeping with the report, the community’s quarterly quantity rose 94.7x that of TVL, a ratio nicely above Ethereum’s roughly 3.83x.

Whereas Ethereum nonetheless attracts a number of long-term capital that strikes much less continuously, BNB Chain concentrates larger turnover and extra speculative flows.

Rising competitors in a fragmented house

Tendencies in stablecoin choices are additionally altering. Collectively, USDT and USDC market share fell barely this yr from 93% to 89% as newer entrants gained floor. Ethena Labs’ USDe rose about 68% to just about $14 billion, whereas PayPal’s PYUSD rose 135% to about $2.4 billion, with most of that on Ethereum, ARK notes.

Furthermore, the DEX-CEX ratio has additionally modified. As on-chain buying and selling has gained over centralized platforms, the ratio will enhance by roughly 192% by 2024.

Whereas BNB Chain might not change Ethereum as the first community for the custody of institutional stablecoins or as the primary settlement node, with Ethereum and its Layer 2 networks nonetheless dealing with the majority of dollar-denominated transactions, it has nonetheless taken the cake when it comes to lively person engagement and DEX-led buying and selling, the report stated.

As ARK’s report suggests, the broader result’s a fragmented market. One by which stablecoins transfer throughout extra chains and places than ever. That fragmentation brings new challenges when it comes to liquidity and routing, but additionally leaves room for every community to specialise in what it’s good at.

Learn extra: Ondo World Markets Pushes RWA Adoption to BNB Chain