BNB Chain DEX Volume Hits $166.6 Billion in June 2025 Post Maxwell Upgrade

The BNB Chain DEX volume reached an unprecedented $166.6 billion in June 2025, marking its highest monthly total ever. This surge was largely attributed to the Maxwell upgrade, which was deployed on June 30, 2025. The upgrade significantly reduced block time from 1.5 seconds to 0.75 seconds, enhancing the network's performance and efficiency.

The Maxwell upgrade was the second speed-boosting hardfork for BNB Chain in 2025, following a similar upgrade in April that reduced block time from 3 seconds to 1.5 seconds. The upgrade included three key proposals: BEP-524, BEP-563, and BEP-564. These proposals were designed to address transaction speed, validator messaging, and node synchronization, respectively.

BEP-524 introduced a shorter block interval, enabling quicker transaction confirmation and lowering the time needed for DeFi and GameFi transactions to be finalized. BEP-563 improved validator communication by upgrading the consensus process, minimizing message delays and reducing the chance of vote drops. These changes were designed to keep the network responsive under heavy load, enhancing BNB Chain’s ability to handle higher traffic without compromising block validation or finality.

BEP-564 added two message types: GetBlocksByRangeMsg and RangeBlocksMsg. These features allowed validators to exchange block data in batches instead of individually, helping slow nodes synchronize faster and decreasing the time needed to recover from delays. This feature was introduced to support high-volume environments with minimal downtime and efficient validator coordination.

Following the Maxwell upgrade, BNB Chain DEX volume reached $166.6 billion in June 2025, marking its highest level on record. The data comes from DeFiLlama. BNB Chain led all other blockchains in daily DEX volume during the month, surpassing both Ethereum and Solana combined in terms of on-chain decentralized trading volume. The BNB Chain DEX volume spike came alongside lower block times and increased transaction speed, both introduced by the Maxwell upgrade.

PancakeSwap, BNB Chain’s largest decentralized exchange, processed over $139 billion in trading volume in June. This positioned it ahead of Uniswap and Raydium. The exchange handled a significant portion of total BNB Chain activity during the month. Its volume increase reflects the impact of reduced transaction times enabled by the network upgrade. PancakeSwap benefited from improved infrastructure that minimized delays during high activity periods, supporting more stable DeFi interactions.