BNB Chain has released an optimization update aimed at mitigating congestion on its network as memecoin speculation drives transaction fees to record highs. The update prioritizes time-sensitive transactions, such as memecoin trades, in an effort to ensure smoother processing during peak periods.
The surge in network traffic has led to increased transaction fees, with BNB Chain collecting nearly $15 million in gas fees over the past week—a 400% jump, more than double Ethereum’s total, according to Nansen data.
Validators on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) currently process transactions by prioritizing getting all transactions on-chain quickly. However, this approach has led to inefficiencies, particularly for traders engaged in memecoin swaps where price fluctuations occur rapidly.
BNB Chain acknowledged these issues, stating: “Even users who increased their gas fees to expedite their transactions weren’t necessarily getting the priority they expected.” The core problem, as outlined in the chain’s official statement, is that validator nodes were not always selecting the highest-value blocks when reaching the block limit. As a result, some transactions failed to be included, despite higher fees being paid.
The new optimization introduces a brief waiting period before finalizing blocks, provided it remains within the network’s three-second block creation window. This change allows validators to collect more bids, increasing the probability of including high-value transactions and improving overall block-building efficiency.
Memecoin Trading Drives Fee Surge and Network Changes
BNB Chain’s transaction fee surge has coincided with a broader uptick in speculative memecoin trading, fueled in part by a flurry of tokens inspired by Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s dog, Broccoli. Decentralized exchange PancakeSwap has benefited from this trend, experiencing heightened trading activity as users flock to capitalize on meme-driven market movements.
The network’s new prioritization strategy specifically targets transactions interacting with time-sensitive smart contracts, such as memecoin swaps. BNB Chain emphasized the importance of this update, stating: “This will allow validators to gather more bids, increasing the chance of incorporating the best ones and improving overall block-building performance, especially during periods of high network activity.”
BNB’s recent price surge has aligned with these network developments. With BNB Chain gas fees outpacing Ethereum and trailing only Solana’s $29 million in total fees, the blockchain’s increased transaction costs signal significant demand.
Adding to the momentum, CZ took to social media to highlight the upgrade. “Two updates went into the BNB Chain in the last few hours,” he posted on X, linking to the chain’s release notes. “More to come. Build!”
The network’s ability to adapt to the growing demands of memecoin traders will be tested in the coming weeks as speculation continues to drive activity on BNB Chain.
