$BNB Moves Past $SOL, Becomes 5th Largest Cryptocurrency by Market Cap

Exciting news as Binance Coin ($BNB) surges past Solana (SOL) to become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

$BNB, fueled by a bullish rally and recent ambitious network upgrades, now boasts a market cap of $104 billion, displacing Solana which is still at $95 billion.

$BNB Rise Contrasted by Solana’s Struggles

BNB’s price skyrocketed 8% in the past 24 hours, reaching an intraday high of $720 before settling at about $702 according to recent data from CoinMarketCap. Over the past 7-days, the token has surged by over 20%, far outpacing the broader crypto market —which has seen a significant decline— and rival smart contract platforms.

This bullish performance also extends to its on-chain activity. BNB Chain saw transaction fees soar by 115% in the past week as user engagement on social media spiked.

Meanwhile, Solana saw some sort of a decline, dropping 2.9% in the same 24-hour period and 3.9% over 7 days. Solana’s recent slump coincides with the broader market-wide volatility as a result of profit-taking following its recent rally.

BNB Chain’s 2025 Roadmap Fuels Growth

The newly unveiled 2025 roadmap for the BNB chain is the main catalyst behind BNB’s surge. The roadmap promises transformative upgrades aimed at boosting performance and user experience.

The key initiatives mentioned include promises of faster transactions with block latency dropping from three seconds to under one second, enabling near-instant finality. The roadmap also promises users “gasless fees” saying it’ll allow users to pay transaction fees with stablecoins or BEP-20 tokens, lowering barriers for newcomers.

Additional changes include improvements in block voting, reduced mempool exposure, enhanced transaction efficiency, and the launch of new AI-powered Smart Wallets that will simplify key management, batch transactions, and gas payments.

CZ Sparks Memecoin Frenzy

Chaopeng Zhao, Binance’s co-founder, fueled further speculation about the BNB chain this week after posting a cryptic question to his 9.8 million X followers.

In response to a tweet asking for his dog’s picture, he asked questions about how people create memecoins, questioning how to be sure of the official token.

The post has ignited rumors of a potential BNB Chain-based memecoin—a notable shift for CZ, which has historically been critical of memecoins for lacking utility.

If realized, a CZ-backed memecoin could redirect attention from Solana, which has dominated the memecoin space through platforms like Pump.fun. Analysts suggest such a move might temporarily boost BNB’s on-chain activity and price, leveraging CZ’s massive influence on the crypto industry.