Historically, October has been one of the best-performing months for Bitcoin. That’s why Bitcoiners nicknamed it “Uptober” due to the consistent gains seen during that period over the years. However, the coin has posted a monthly loss of 5.6% this year, with BNB stealing the show after surging 6.1%.
This article explains why BNB has performed well in October, as Bitcoin struggles.
Factors Behind Bitcoin’s Poor Performance in October
Bitcoin started the month on a high note, rallying to a new all-time high of $126,000. The price surge was fueled by the US government shutdown, which began on October 1 after policymakers failed to pass the funding bill. However, Bitcoin’s rally was cut short on October 10 when US President Donald Trump announced plans to impose more taxes on Chinese imports. His announcement triggered a severe downtrend, with BTC’s price dropping below $103,000.
Since then, Bitcoin has struggled to start a meaningful rally as investors appear to have shifted their focus to safe-haven asset, Gold, which recently hit an all-time high of $4,381.
BNB Outperforms Other Top 10 Cryptocurrencies
BNB has outperformed all the other top 10 digital currencies by market capitalization in October. The native token of BNB Chain reached $1,369 for the first time in its history. But what ignited the rally? Let’s find out!
Drivers Behind BNB’s Rally
The Rise of BNB-Based Meme Coins
Over the last two years, Solana has dominated the meme coin industry, with millions of coins launched through the PumpFun token launchpad. However, BNB Chain challenged its dominance in October, with thousands of meme coins deployed on the network through PumpFun’s rival FourMeme. Notably, FourMeme surpassed PumpFun’s daily revenue on October 8, as it accounted for 83% of all meme coins launched between the two launchpads.
That day, blockchain analytics company Bubblemaps reported that the number of meme coin traders on BNB Chain had crossed the 100,000 mark, with over 65% in profit. Furthermore, the Binance-backed blockchain surpassed its rivals in terms of generated transaction fees. And given that BNB is required to pay these fees, the token saw increased demand, which fueled a jump above $1,369.
However, the meme coin buzz on BNB Chain faded after Trump’s tariff announcement, which caused liquidations worth $19 billion within 24 hours. Interestingly, BNB Chain launched a $45-million airdrop to compensate all meme coin traders affected by the sudden crash.
The Launch of Hyperliquid Competitor Aster
Hyperliquid, a popular perpetual decentralized exchange (DEX), saw its dominance threatened in October following the launch of BNB-based Aster. During the first week of the month, Aster handled more than double Hyperliquid’s trading volume as traders rushed to use the DEX, which Binance founder Changpeng Zhao openly supported on X, formerly Twitter.
Although trading is gasless on Aster, deposits and withdrawals attract gas fees, which are paid in BNB. That said, traders who purchased BNB to cover transaction fees on Aster played a role in triggering the token’s rally this month.
Why is Binance Accused of Causing a Market Crash?
Some analysts believe that Trump’s announcement on proposed Chinese tariffs wasn’t the only driver behind the massive crash on October 10. For instance, Trevor King, an analyst at Delphi Digital, claimed Binance contributed to the market crash by valuing wrapped tokens, like BNSOL, USDe, and WBETH, based on the trading platform’s own spot prices and not their actual redemption values, making collateral seem weaker than it was.
Considering most leveraged trading platforms rely on data from Binance’s oracle, the mispricing impacted these platforms, leading to a wider market downturn.
However, Binance has denied its involvement in the crash, arguing that the sell-off was caused only by Donald Trump’s tariff announcement. But the centralized exchange acknowledged some “technical glitches” in the platform that may have caused users to lose money during the market crash and promised a compensation package worth $283 million.
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