BNB Wins ‘Uptober’ With Memecoin Wave Amid Binance Market Crash Scrutiny

October is traditionally one in every of Bitcoin’s (BTC) best-performing months, however this yr, BNB (BNB) is stealing the present.

“Uptober” — coined to explain Bitcoin’s sometimes bullish Octobers — started on a excessive word this yr, when the US authorities shutdown had simply begun. Now, as Washington’s funding impasse stretches previous three weeks, that optimism has pale amid commerce tensions and the aftermath of a historic liquidation occasion.

In the meantime, BNB, the native token of Binance’s BNB Chain, has set new all-time highs twice this month. The community is experiencing a surge in memecoin buying and selling and is competing immediately with Hyperliquid within the decentralized perpetuals market by means of its Aster platform.

Though BNB has since retreated from its peak, it stays up about 6% for the reason that begin of October. However these good points are set in opposition to the backdrop of rising scrutiny over Binance’s alleged function within the latest market crash.

Binance’s BNB, memecoin season fuels metrics

Solana has lengthy been the go-to community for memecoins. That is largely due to the token launchpad Pump.enjoyable. However in October, its dominance was challenged by a brand new wave of BNB Chain-based tokens.

On Oct. 4, a cryptocurrency pockets reportedly turned $3,000 into $2 million after Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao shared a submit a couple of memecoin. This second coincided with the beginning of a memecoin frenzy on the BNB Chain.

On Oct. 1, Pump.enjoyable accounted for 93.3% of all memecoin launches between the 2 platforms. By the day of Zhao’s submit, that share had fallen to 56.2%. One week later, on Oct. 8, BNB Chain’s 4.meme flipped the stability with 83.9% of latest token launches whereas surpassing Pump.Fun’s daily revenue generation. BNB hit a brand new all-time high above $1,300.

Throughout 4.meme’s early-October surge, blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps reported that 100,000 merchants had purchased new BNB Chain memecoins, with 70% in revenue.

The momentum has additionally lifted the community’s broader metrics. In keeping with Nansen knowledge, BNB Chain led all blockchains in complete charges over the previous week whereas coming in second in lively addresses and transactions regardless of declines in onchain exercise throughout the business.

Quickly after, the crypto market suffered its largest liquidation occasion on file, with $19 billion in positions worn out and round $450 billion erased from complete market capitalization.

Associated: $19B crypto market crash: Was it leverage, China tariffs or both?

Following the crash, BNB Chain rewarded its memecoin merchants with a $45-million airdrop spherical.

BNB Chain DEX Aster’s knowledge drama and Binance’s tech glitch

Whereas BNB has been having fun with a historic month as Bitcoin struggles to get well from the latest liquidation frenzy, Binance has been warding off rising accusations over its function within the crash.

One of many key allegations facilities on a worth oracle malfunction that briefly confirmed Ethena’s artificial greenback, USDe, losing its greenback peg on Binance regardless that costs elsewhere remained steady.

Delphi Digital analyst Trevor King mentioned Binance valued wrapped belongings reminiscent of wBETH, BNSOL and USDe based mostly on the trade’s personal spot costs as an alternative of their redemption values. That made collateral seem weaker than it really was. As a result of Binance’s oracle served as a de facto “worth of file” throughout leveraged buying and selling platforms, the mispricing rippled by means of to different platforms. King additionally added {that a} broader market downturn had already begun earlier than the pricing error appeared on Binance.

Within the aftermath, a number of X customers claimed to have suffered losses on account of Binance’s system points that day. One of many viral posts got here from the account 812.eth, who cited a “market-maker pal” to say that orders have been repeatedly rejected on Binance as costs fell, compounding losses. The post has since been deleted.

Binance denied being the supply of the crash, attributing the sell-off to broader market situations after US President Donald Trump threatened 100% tariffs on Chinese imports. The trade admitted that “some platform modules briefly skilled technical glitches” and that “sure belongings had de-pegging points on account of sharp market fluctuations.” Binance mentioned it in the end distributed $283 million in compensation. Regardless of the turmoil, BNB surged once more, setting a brand new all-time excessive of $1,370 on Oct. 13.

On that day, Hyperliquid was the highest platform for liquidations. The fast-rising perpetuals decentralized trade (DEX) is now dealing with a rival in BNB Chain’s Aster.

Associated: Aster delisting exposes DeFi’s growing integrity crisis

On Oct. 6, Aster led all perpetual DEXs with a whopping $41.78 billion in 24-hour buying and selling quantity. Nevertheless, DefiLlama later eliminated Aster’s knowledge, citing issues in regards to the integrity of its metrics. Though the platform was quietly relisted, DefiLlama’s founder, 0xngmi, said the figures nonetheless can’t be verified.

BNB turns Bitcoin’s “Uptober” into its personal victory lap

October has been Bitcoin’s month, however this yr, the highlight shifted to Binance’s ecosystem.

A burst of memecoin buying and selling, recent incentives and the rise of Aster pushed BNB to file highs, defying a market weighed down by historic liquidations and worldwide commerce tensions.

Whereas Bitcoin is stumbling by means of what has up to now been its worst October in additional than a decade, BNB Chain’s community exercise and price era proceed to climb.

The momentum hasn’t been spotless. Binance is as soon as once more beneath the microscope over its worth oracle glitch, renewing scrutiny about how centralized its ecosystem actually is.

Aster’s temporary removing from DefiLlama solely added to the skepticism round how the numbers stack up. However even with these cracks displaying, BNB is popping a quiet month for crypto into one in every of its strongest performances of the yr.

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