Whales Fuel NFT Resurgence on BNB Chain in Q3, Messari Reports

NFT trading on BNB Chain experienced a significant rebound in Q3 2024, with trading volume surging 283% quarter-on-quarter, according to blockchain analytics firm Messari. Despite a sharp drop in the number of daily buyers, the rise in trading activity was largely driven by "whales"—large investors who dominate the NFT market.

NFT Trading Volume Soars

BNB Chain’s daily average NFT trading volume reached $600,400 in Q3, marking a 283% increase from the previous quarter. Sales volume also saw a notable uptick, rising 47% to an average of 8,900 daily transactions. However, Messari’s Research Manager, AJC, noted that the average number of daily buyers dropped 53% from Q2, falling to just 2,300. This decline in smaller buyers suggests that the recent surge in activity was driven primarily by large investors rather than the broader user base.

While BNB Chain’s $55.2 million in NFT trading volume for Q3 represents impressive growth, it still lags behind other blockchain networks. Ethereum, for example, reported $120.7 million in NFT trading volume over the past 30 days, while Bitcoin tallied $74.6 million. Solana, Mythos Chain, Polygon, and Immutable all recorded higher trading volumes than BNB Chain in the same period, according to data from CryptoSlam.

BNB Chain’s Broader Performance: Mixed Results

BNB Chain’s performance across other metrics in Q3 showed a mixed picture. The platform’s revenue dropped by 27.9% quarter-on-quarter, falling to $34.9 million. This decline was largely attributed to a 27% reduction in gas fees generated from decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions. Additionally, BNB Chain saw a 19% drop in average daily active addresses, which fell to 900,000, while average daily transactions decreased by 8.1%.

However, there was a positive development in the total value locked (TVL) on the chain, which increased by 2.2% to $4.8 billion in Q3. Venus Finance, an algorithmic money market protocol on BNB Chain, was the biggest contributor to this growth, seeing a 13% increase in TVL, reaching $1.79 billion.

BNB Chain's Deflationary Trend and Stablecoin Use

BNB Chain's deflationary mechanics were another highlight in Q3. More BNB tokens were burned than minted, resulting in a deflation rate of 4.5%. This contributed to a 2.5% increase in BNB’s price, even as the broader cryptocurrency market experienced some regression. According to Messari, two of the primary use cases for BNB Chain remain transactions involving the Tether (USDT) stablecoin and interactions with the decentralized exchange PancakeSwap.

Looking Ahead: BNB Chain’s New Tokenization Service

BNB Chain is also making strides in expanding its ecosystem with the launch of a new real-world asset (RWA) tokenization service. The platform now offers individuals and businesses a no-code solution that allows them to tokenize real-world assets in a matter of minutes. The new service aims to lower the cost, time, and labor involved in asset tokenization, significantly reducing barriers to entry for a wider range of users.

Launched by Binance in 2020 (initially as Binance Smart Chain), BNB Chain continues to rank as the fourth-largest Layer 1 blockchain by total value locked (TVL), trailing only Ethereum, Solana, and Tron, according to data from DefiLlama.

Conclusion

While BNB Chain faces competition from other blockchains in the NFT and DeFi sectors, its recent growth in NFT trading and innovations like the RWA tokenization service signal that it is continuing to evolve. The increased activity from whales in the NFT space, along with a rise in total value locked and the platform’s deflationary dynamics, suggest that BNB Chain remains a significant player in the broader crypto ecosystem.