Cryptocurrency traders made millions of dollars on small-cap memecoins on the BNB Chain over the past week, signaling a renewed wave of speculative capital fueling the current market cycle.
Among the most profitable investors is trader “0xd0a2,” who turned an initial investment of $3,500 into $7.9 million, generating a 2,260-fold return in three days, according to blockchain intelligence platform Lookonchain.
Trader “hexiecs” turned a $360,000 investment into over $5.5 million by investing in the recently launched “4” memecoin, which went parabolic after an X post from Binance co-founder and former CEO, Changpeng Zhao.
Other speculators also jumped on the token, including trader “brc20niubi,” who turned a $730,000 investment into $5.4 million, printing a 1,200-fold return on investment, according to Lookonchain.
The activity followed a trade earlier in the week when the wallet “0x872” netted nearly $2 million in profits within hours after investing just $3,000 in the 4 token. The trader achieved a 650-fold return after Zhao reshared a post about the token to his 8.9 million X followers on Oct. 1.
The 4 token originated after a phishing attack on the BNB Chain, where the hacker reportedly made only $4,000 in profit before the community turned the event into a meme.
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Traders wake up to BNB Chain potential
The growing trader activity on the blockchain has garnered attention from industry watchers, including Zhao, who called the phenomenon “BNB meme szn,” something he said he “didn’t expect at all.”
One of the main drivers of the growing investor interest is a recognition of BNB Chain’s potential for digital asset trading, according to Marwan Kawadri, DeFi lead and head of EMEA at BNB Chain.
“BNB Chain has always been strong in DeFi, but right now, it’s becoming the heartbeat of onchain trading,” amid records in active addresses and decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volumes, Kawadri told Cointelegraph, adding:
“What you’re seeing with ‘BNB meme szn’ is the market waking up to the fact that BNB Chain has become the leading ecosystem for trading.”
New cryptocurrency trends may gain traction faster on the blockchain, as the “community is built around trading culture,” said Kawadri.
Related: ‘Diamond hand’ investor turns $1K into $1M as BNB tops $1,000
The industry’s most successful traders, tracked as “smart money” traders on Nansen’s blockchain intelligence platform, have also been prioritizing BNB-native memecoins.
The three largest cryptocurrencies purchased by smart money traders were all BNB native tokens, according to Nansen data, which shows the 24-hour inflow of these tokens.
Leading up to Tuesday, over 100,000 onchain traders had bought into the new BNB-native memecoins, with about 70% in profit at the time, according to blockchain data visualization platform Bubblemaps.
Out of the 100,000 traders, one address made over $10 million, 40 made over $1 million, while 900 traders made over $100,000 in profit.
Memecoins are some of the riskiest digital assets. Since they have no intrinsic value, these tokens rely solely on social sentiment to gain traction.
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