Cryptocurrency is going mainstream, but not through Bitcoin, Ethereum, or NFTs as commonly assumed. Instead, it is becoming an invisible security layer for digital finance and the internet—akin to the shift from HTTP to HTTPS. Stablecoins, which process nearly $9 trillion in adjusted annual volume, rival Visa and PayPal by offering a more secure and interoperable transaction layer on the blockchain.

The future of decentralized Layer 1s is not as a "world computer" but as a "world database"—a foundational layer for Layer 2 chains. This model allows applications to run independently while publishing ordered transactions to a shared, secure database. It supports scalability through erasure coding and decentralized validation without requiring global execution.

Interoperability is key: applications like PayPal or LINE Pay could operate as independent L2 chains, with cross-chain communication enabling seamless transactions between them. This requires a fast-finality Layer 1 with succinct proofs or trusted execution environments (TEEs) for verification.

The vision is a unified financial ecosystem where liquidity flows freely across chains, enabling frictionless transactions and real-time interactions—not through a single monolithic chain, but via a universal base layer for secure cross-chain communication.

<html><head></head><body>Original Title:Crypto is going mainstream—just not in the way you might think Original Author: @binafisch Compiled by: Peggy, BlockBeats Editor's Note:Cryptocurrency is going mainstream, but in a completely different way than you might imagine. It won't appear in the form of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana, nor will it be dominated by NFT art or meme coins. Instead, it will quietly integrate into digital finance and the underlying internet, becoming a secure communication layer between applications, much like the transition from HTTP to HTTPS.Today, stablecoin transaction volumes are approaching those of Visa and PayPal, and Web3 is "invisibly" entering daily life. The future Layer 1 will no longer be a "world computer" but a "world database," providing a trusted shared data source for millions of applications.This article delves into the logic behind this transformation: Why is interoperability key? Why will business models be restructured due to the integration of AI and blockchain? And why is the future of frictionless finance not a single giant chain but a universal foundational layer?Below is the original text: Cryptocurrency is going mainstream, just not in the way you might think.It won’t be like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana, nor will it be dominated by NFT art or meme coins, and it’s even less likely to be EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) or SVM (Solana Virtual Machine). Blockchains will quietly integrate into the network, becoming a secure communication layer between applications, much like the transition from HTTP to HTTPS. The impact will be profound, but for users and developers, the experience will hardly change. This transformation is already underway.Stablecoins, essentially fiat balances on the blockchain, currently process approximately $9 trillion in adjusted annual transaction volume, on par with Visa and PayPal. Stablecoins are not fundamentally different from PayPal dollars; the difference lies in the blockchain providing a more secure and interoperable transmission layer. After more than a decade, ETH still hasn’t been widely adopted as currency and is easily replaceable by stablecoins. ETH’s value comes from the demand for Ethereum block space and the cash flow generated by staking incentives. On Hyperliquid, the highest-traded assets are synthetic representations of traditional stocks and indices, not crypto-native tokens.The primary reason existing financial networks are integrating blockchain as a secure communication layer is interoperability. Today, a PayPal user cannot easily pay a LINE Pay user. If PayPal and LINE Pay operated as chains like Base and Arbitrum, market makers such as Across, Relay, Eco, or deBridge could facilitate these transfers instantly. PayPal users wouldn’t need a LINE account, and LINE users wouldn’t need a PayPal account. Blockchain enables this interoperability and permissionless integration between applications.Recent buzz around Monad as the next major EVM ecosystem shows that the crypto space is still stuck in outdated thinking. Monad has a well-designed consensus system and strong performance, but these features are no longer unique. Fast finality is now a basic requirement. The idea of developers migrating en masse and locking into a new monolithic ecosystem is not supported by the experience of the past decade. EVM applications can easily migrate between chains, and the broader internet will not be rearchitectured within a single virtual machine. <h2>The Future Role of Decentralized Layer 1: A World Database, Not a World Computer</h2> Or in crypto terms: the base layer for Layer 2 chains.Modern digital applications are inherently modular. There are millions of web and mobile applications globally, each using its own development framework, programming language, and server architecture, and maintaining an ordered list of transactions that define its state.In crypto terms, each application is already an app-chain. The problem is that these app-chains lack a secure, shared, trusted source. Querying an application’s state requires trusting centralized servers that may fail or be attacked. Ethereum initially tried to solve this with the world computer model: in this model, each application is a smart contract in a single virtual machine, validators re-execute every transaction, compute the entire global state, and run a consensus protocol to reach agreement. Ethereum updates its state approximately every 15 minutes, at which point transactions are considered confirmed.This approach has two main problems: it doesn’t scale and doesn’t provide enough customization for real applications. The key realization is that applications should not run in a single global virtual machine but should continue to run independently, using their own servers and architectures, while publishing their ordered transactions to a decentralized Layer 1 database. Layer 2 clients can read this ordered log and independently compute the application state.This new model is both scalable and flexible, capable of supporting large platforms like PayPal, Zelle, Alipay, Robinhood, Fidelity, or Coinbase with only moderate adjustments to their infrastructure. These applications don’t need to be rewritten for EVM or SVM; they just need to publish transactions to a shared, secure database. If privacy is important, they can publish encrypted transactions and distribute decryption keys to specific clients. <h2>Underlying Principle: How the World Database Scales</h2> Scaling a world database is much easier than scaling a world computer. A world computer requires validators to download, verify, and execute every transaction generated by every application globally, which is computationally and bandwidth-intensive. The bottleneck is that every validator must fully execute the global state transition function.In a world database, validators only need to ensure data availability, consistent block ordering, and that once finality is reached, the order is irreversible. They don’t need to execute any application logic; they only need to store and propagate data in a way that guarantees honest nodes can reconstruct the complete dataset. Therefore, validators don’t even need to receive the full copy of every transaction block.Erasure coding makes this possible. For example, suppose a 1MB block is erasure-coded and split into 10 parts distributed to 10 validators. Each validator receives about one-tenth of the data, but any 7 validators can combine to reconstruct the entire block. This means that as the number of applications increases, the number of validators can also increase, while the data load per validator remains constant. With 10 applications generating 1MB blocks and 100 validators, each validator processes about 10KB of data; with 100 applications and 1000 validators, each validator still processes the same amount of data.Validators still need to run a consensus protocol, but they need to agree only on the block hash order, which is much easier than agreeing on global execution results. The result is that the capacity of the world database can scale with the number of validators and applications without overloading any validator with global execution. <h2>Interoperability Between Chains with a Shared World Database</h2> This architecture introduces a new problem: interoperability between Layer 2 chains. Applications in the same virtual machine can communicate synchronously, but applications running on different L2s cannot. For example, with ERC20, if I have USDC on Ethereum and you have JPYC, I can use Uniswap in a single transaction to swap USDC for JPYC and send it to you because the USDC, JPYC, and Uniswap contracts coordinate within the same virtual machine.If PayPal, LINE, and Uniswap each run as independent Layer 2 chains, we need a secure method for cross-chain communication. To pay from a PayPal account to a LINE user, Uniswap (on its independent chain) would need to verify the PayPal transaction, execute multiple swaps, initiate a LINE transaction, verify completion, and send final confirmation back to PayPal. This is Layer 2 cross-chain messaging.To accomplish this securely and in real-time, two elements are needed:The target chain must have the latest hash of the source chain’s ordered transactions, usually a Merkle root or similar fingerprint published on the Layer 1 database.The target chain must be able to verify the correctness of the message without re-executing the entire source chain program. This can be achieved through succinct proofs or trusted execution environments (TEEs).Real-time cross-chain transactions require a Layer 1 with fast finality combined with real-time proof generation or TEE attestation. <h2>Towards Unified Liquidity and Frictionless Finance</h2> This brings us back to the bigger vision. Today, digital finance is fragmented by closed systems, forcing users and liquidity to concentrate on a few dominant platforms. This concentration limits innovation and hinders new financial applications from competing on a level playing field. We envision a world where all digital asset applications are connected through a shared foundational layer, allowing liquidity to flow freely between chains, payments to occur seamlessly, and applications to interact securely in real-time.The Layer 2 paradigm makes it possible for any application to become a Web3 chain, and a high-speed Layer 1 that serves solely as a world database enables these chains to communicate in real-time and interoperate as naturally as smart contracts in a single chain. This is how frictionless finance is born—not through a single giant blockchain trying to do everything, but through a universal foundational layer that enables secure, real-time communication across chains.</body></html>

The Future of Cryptocurrency: From Speculative Asset to the Foundation of the Internet

coinvoice

BNB Chain achieved significant growth in 2025, establishing itself as a leading Layer 1 blockchain with record-breaking metrics. It recorded the highest daily active users (DAU) among all L1s, peaking at 5 million, and maintained a 22.6% market share. Its Layer 2 solution, opBNB, also led in DAU among L2s. Total DEX trading volume surpassed $2 trillion, with 2025 volume reaching approximately $680 billion.

Meme coins were a major driver of activity, with BNB Chain一度 surpassing Solana and Ethereum in meme trading volume. Infrastructure like the Four.Meme launchpad and zero-fee campaigns fueled this trend.

Stablecoin performance was particularly strong, with total supply doubling to $14 billion. Monthly active addresses for stablecoins ranked first among all blockchains, supported by low fees and initiatives like the "0 Gas Fee Carnival."

BNB Chain also emerged as a key platform for Real-World Assets (RWA), with a market cap of $1.74 billion and TVL surging 1,510% quarter-over-quarter. Major institutional entries included BlackRock's BUIDL fund and partnerships with Ondo Finance and Circle.

Perpetuals trading grew steadily, with Aster becoming a flagship protocol. Despite challenges, BNB Chain solidified its role as a multi-chain infrastructure hub in Web3.

<html><head></head><body>Author: Felix, PANews
2025 was a milestone year for BNB Chain. Amidst multi-chain competition and the diversion of users and capital, BNB Chain, with its low fees, high throughput, and EVM compatibility, became one of the fastest-growing networks in the Web3 space in 2025; it further solidified its position as a multi-chain infrastructure through dedicated agendas, ecosystem project showcases, and partner interactions at the "2025 Binance Blockchain Week" event.
Looking back at the data, BNB Chain achieved multiple records in 2025: daily active users (DAU) peaked at over 5 million, cumulative DEX trading volume exceeded $2 trillion, stablecoin supply surged to $14 billion, the RWA project ecosystem took initial shape, and Meme coins drove community vitality through viral spread. This year, BNB Chain was not just a "number factory" for trading volume but evolved into an ecosystem integrating DeFi, AI, RWA, and Meme culture, attracting hundreds of millions of users and developers globally.
<h2>DEX Daily Active Users Rank First</h2>
The BNB Chain ecosystem has expanded from a single chain in 2020 to a multi-layered global network, and data can直观地反映 the real growth of the ecosystem. Currently, BNB Chain's DAU is stable at around 3.7 million, with a peak of 5 million, ranking first among all L1 blockchains, with a market share of 22.6%.
<div><img style="max-width:100%;overflow:hidden;" src="https://d1x7dwosqaosdj.cloudfront.net/images/2025-12/c5d56057dce148bfb5debf89230c7250.png" alt=""></div>
Data source: Token Terminal
opBNB's daily active user count also ranks first among all L2 blockchains, stable at around 1.5 million, with a market share of 41.9%.
<div><img style="max-width:100%;overflow:hidden;" src="https://d1x7dwosqaosdj.cloudfront.net/images/2025-12/a9a80fbcff4740fc86e151847f8c9aad.png" alt=""></div>
Data source: Token Terminal
Furthermore, as of December 8th, the cumulative DEX trading volume exceeded $2 trillion, with the trading volume for 2025 year-to-date reaching approximately $680 billion, and the monthly peak hitting $119.2 billion in October.
<div><img style="max-width:100%;overflow:hidden;" src="https://d1x7dwosqaosdj.cloudfront.net/images/2025-12/d0038e77f4d048cfa73c1eb0dbda9728.png" alt=""></div>
Data source: DeFiLlama
<h2>Meme Narrative as the Year's "Traffic King"</h2>
Meme coins, as catalysts for user acquisition, community interaction, and trading frequency, were the undisputed "Traffic King" this year. This year, the BNB Chain Meme ecosystem evolved from an infrastructure explosion (Four.meme) to community狂欢 (CZ effect), transitioning from a "casino" to a "semi-ecosystem," becoming one of the most active narratives on-chain. In the first half of the year, BNB Chain's Meme coin trading volume一度 surpassed that of Solana and Ethereum. In June alone, it accounted for about 45% of the total Meme coin DEX trading volume.
The rise of the Meme ecosystem is inseparable from the solidification of its infrastructure. As a "killer app" for promoting the Meme narrative on BNB Chain, the token launch platform Four.Meme underwent product upgrades, standardized contract addresses (all ending with "4444"), implemented the PancakeSwap V2 liquidity addition scheme, and同步 burned LP tokens. Additionally, the "0 Fee Carnival" activity (zero Gas transfer incentives) reduced minting costs, further triggering a "全民铸币" (nationwide minting) frenzy.
The protagonists of the Meme frenzy were not only English-speaking communities; the waning influence of the Chinese community "stood out" in October,上演了一场压轴戏 (staging a grand finale). The hottest was the self-deprecating representative project $币安人生 (Binance Life), whose name seems to summarize a Binance user's life: from depositing funds to going all-in and finally getting liquidated to zero. $币安人生's market cap surged twice after its October launch, first peaking at around $458 million early in the month, then rising again to over $400 million on October 21st.
Currently, although the Meme frenzy has subsided and most tokens have fallen significantly, this狂欢 has left a浓墨重彩的一笔 (bold and colorful stroke) in the history of cryptocurrency in 2025.
<h2>Stablecoin Monthly Active Addresses Steadily Rank First</h2>
BNB Chain (BSC + opBNB) performed particularly impressively in the stablecoin领域, securing a spot among the top three blockchains in the stablecoin space凭借 low costs, deep integration with the Binance ecosystem, and a series of incentive activities.
As of December 6th, the total stablecoin circulation on BNB Chain was approximately $14 billion, with the annual supply growing by about 102.9% (from about $6.9 billion at the beginning of the year); the total trading volume reached about $953.8 billion, with a monthly average trading volume from January to November of about $85 billion; the number of transactions has ranked first among all blockchains since May; and the monthly active address count has steadily ranked first among all blockchains this year.
<div><img style="max-width:100%;overflow:hidden;" src="https://d1x7dwosqaosdj.cloudfront.net/images/2025-12/0a03fdd9eefe451f8e362520ed8e8082.png" alt=""></div>
Year-to-date stablecoin supply; Data source: Artemis Terminal
<div><img style="max-width:100%;overflow:hidden;" src="https://d1x7dwosqaosdj.cloudfront.net/images/2025-12/bee0e8e542694f0c849d4bc453c615f0.png" alt=""></div>
Monthly trading volume; Data source: Visa Onchain Analytics
<div><img style="max-width:100%;overflow:hidden;" src="https://d1x7dwosqaosdj.cloudfront.net/images/2025-12/8f4ca9beff234b8c9ff9e277db0619dd.png" alt=""></div>
Monthly transaction count; Data source: Visa Onchain Analytics
<div><img style="max-width:100%;overflow:hidden;" src="https://d1x7dwosqaosdj.cloudfront.net/images/2025-12/266f372e56b04b2d970ec801f06513d8.png" alt=""></div>
Monthly active address count; Data source: Visa Onchain Analytics
The growth in the stablecoin领域 was得益于 the construction of the BNB Chain network itself. First was the "0 Gas Fee Carnival" activity, which was extended multiple times in 2025, covering multiple coins like USDT, USDC, USD1, directly stimulating stablecoin transfers, withdrawals, and bridging, and was also a key reason for the inflow of retail and institutional funds.
Secondly, BNB Chain underwent 3 major technical upgrades in 2025 (primarily in the form of hard forks). These upgrades focused on improving network scalability, transaction speed, and security. The Maxwell upgrade implemented on June 30th shortened the BSC block time from 1.5 seconds to 0.75 seconds, achieving "sub-second" confirmation, with the median Gas fee dropping to $0.01 per transaction, and network efficiency improving by 20%.
Furthermore, deep integration with communities and institutions (like World Liberty Financial) has also shifted BNB Chain from a "trading chain" to a "stablecoin payment hub".
<h2>RWA Development Becomes One of the Mainstream Institutional Battlefields</h2>
In 2025, BNB Chain became a leading platform in the RWA tokenization领域 through technical upgrades and ecosystem integration. As of December 8th, its total RWA market capitalization had reached $1.74 billion, accounting for approximately 9.46% of the total RWA market; there are over 100 projects; the number of holders has grown significantly since the beginning of the year, reaching 5,231.
TVL in November broke through $1.005 billion, a monthly increase of 55.1%, and a quarter-on-quarter surge of 1,510%, growing from $75 million to $1.208 billion, the fastest growth rate in the industry; among which USYC reached $903 million and the CASH+ money fund规模 reached $712 million, forming a dual-engine growth.
<div><img style="max-width:100%;overflow:hidden;" src="https://d1x7dwosqaosdj.cloudfront.net/images/2025-12/1c9ffe159c504aedabb5229664b56a86.png" alt=""></div>
Data source: Rwa.xyz
The biggest factor promoting BNB Chain's rapid rise in the RWA tokenization领域 is its provision of a one-stop solution, including compliant issuance (KYC/AML tools), secondary liquidity (integration with DEXs like PancakeSwap), and DeFi utility (lending), reducing cross-chain friction.
Additionally, dedicated RWA incentive programs have also been instrumental. BNB Chain established an initial $50 million exclusive RWA incentive fund in January this year, providing personalized support for RWA projects building on or migrating to BNB Chain, including TVL incentives, liquidity subsidies, compliance guidance, etc., becoming the starting point for the全年 RWA爆发 (year-long RWA explosion).
Driven by various factors, positive news kept coming for RWA. First, the xStocks alliance, a joint effort by Kraken and Backed Finance, officially launched the first batch of 60+ tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs on BNB Chain in July,首次 allowing ordinary users to trade traditional stocks on-chain 24/7. Subsequently, Ondo Finance's "Global Markets" landed on BNB Chain in October,迅速突破 (quickly exceeding) 100 types of tokenized assets, further bringing traditional assets like stocks, ETFs, and commodities into DeFi.
Most notably, on November 14th, BlackRock's BUIDL fund went live on BNB Chain through the security token platform Securitize and the cross-chain protocol Wormhole. This marks the first time the flagship RWA product of the world's largest asset management company has truly landed on BNB Chain. Furthermore, CMB International and Circle also partnered with BNB Chain respectively. CMB International tokenized its $3.8 billion USD money market fund as CMBMINT and CMBIMINT onto BNB Chain, while Circle deployed its tokenized money market fund USYC to BNB Chain. The launch of these assets marks BNB Chain's emergence as one of the mainstream institutional battlefields for RWA.
<h2>Aster Rises Rapidly, Perp Gradually Matures</h2>
Although Hyperliquid and others still dominate the Perp market, BNB Chain achieved doubled growth this year through flagship projects like Aster. Data shows that as of December 8th, BNB Chain's Perp monthly trading volume基本呈逐月递增模式 (basically showed a month-on-month increasing pattern), peaking in October at approximately $22.483 billion, with its share of the global Perp market significantly increasing from about 1% at the beginning of the year to about 2.05%. Perp became the third largest narrative after Meme and stablecoins.
<div><img style="max-width:100%;overflow:hidden;" src="https://d1x7dwosqaosdj.cloudfront.net/images/2025-12/0c5fb4cd4f9648f1bdf3614c61bce18d.png" alt=""></div>
Data source: DeFiLlama
Multiple protocols focused on perpetual trading emerged on BNB Chain in 2025, with popular projects including Aster, MYX Finance, etc. Aster, as the flagship Perp project on BNB Chain, supports multi-chain unified liquidity, offering hidden orders, stock Perps, and extremely high leverage (up to 1001x). CZ also publicly purchased ASTER,推动其快速崛起 (fueling its rapid rise).
<h2>Outlook</h2>
2025 was an important year for BNB Chain's transition from high-speed growth to "ecological deepening."凭借 high performance, low fees, and a large user base, it formed a strong barrier to entry, achieved blossoming results in areas like Meme, stablecoins, and RWA, and established its position as a Web3 infrastructure.
However, challenges remain for BNB Chain. It needs to shift from "short-term traffic" to "long-term value," and also face competition between blockchains and macro uncertainty risks. How BNB Chain will better prove that it is more than just a chain, bring the next billion users on-chain, and become the global engine of Web3 remains to be seen.
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# EVM Articoli collegati

The Future of Cryptocurrency: From Speculative Asset to the Foundation of the Internet

BNB Chain Annual Review: Daily Active Addresses Lead Among L1s, Stablecoin Supply Doubles

Industry News

Ethereum