PancakeSwap

Arbitrum

DeFi

PancakeSwap closed a record year in terms of cryptocurrency trading volume, owing to growing interest in decentralized exchanges and the expansion of layer-2 blockchain networks.
<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/what-are-decentralized-exchanges-and-how-do-dexs-work" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">Decentralized exchange (DEX)</a> PancakeSwap recorded $310 billion in total trading volume during 2024, marking a nearly 179% year-over-year (YoY) increase from $111 billion in 2023.
The record year was mainly attributed to L2 networks Arbitrum and Base, as the former saw a 3,656% YoY increase to $13.2 billion, while crypto trading volume on Base rose by 3,539% YoY to $11.6 billion in 2024, according to a PancakeSwap report shared with Cointelegraph.
Growing investor sentiment and decentralized finance (DeFi) trading activity also contributed to the $310 billion milestone, the PancakeSwap team told Cointelegraph:
<blockquote>
 “PancakeSwap's 179% YoY growth in trading volume reflects the positive market sentiment and increased activity in the DeFi and DEX sectors.”
</blockquote>
<figure>
 <img alt="PancakeSwap closes record $310B year, up 179% driven by L2, DeFi growth" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193f881-dd68-7433-b6a0-e3bbdbae0f7a" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 DEXs by 24-hour trading volume. Source: DefiLlama
 </figcaption>
</figure>
PancakeSwap is currently the second-largest DEX with a $2.23 billion daily trading volume, second to Uniswap’s $3.11 billion 24-hour volume, DefiLlama data <a href="https://defillama.com/dexs" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">shows</a>.
<figure>
 <img alt="PancakeSwap closes record $310B year, up 179% driven by L2, DeFi growth" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193f881-8ce2-71c6-8e7f-78315174167f" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 PancakeSwap 2024 milestones. Source: PancakeSwap
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-social-sentiment-drops-yearly-low-signaling-btc-breakout" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">Bitcoin social sentiment drops to yearly low, signaling BTC breakout</a>
<h2 id="crosschain-growth-and-ux-feature-upgrades-pushed-pancakeswap-past-the-310b-milestone">Crosschain growth and UX feature upgrades pushed PancakeSwap past the $310B milestone</h2>
Beyond Arbitrum and Base, PancakeSwap saw significant YoY growth across multiple chains, including a 251% increase on Ethereum and a 155% increase on the BNB Chain.
<figure>
 <img alt="PancakeSwap closes record $310B year, up 179% driven by L2, DeFi growth" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193f881-5731-7f9d-8333-f4d9b28c1364" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 2024 total trading volume on PancakeSwap across top chains. Source: PancakeSwap
 </figcaption>
</figure>
PancakeSwap’s yearly milestone comes amid increasing DeFi activity, which saw the total value locked in DeFi rise by over 124% during the year, from $54 billion on Jan. 1 to over $121 billion as of Dec. 24, according to DefiLlama.
<figure>
 <img alt="PancakeSwap closes record $310B year, up 179% driven by L2, DeFi growth" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193f881-1354-7dc1-952b-9dbf0350cda9" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 DeFi total value locked, 2024 chart. Source: DefiLlama
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Beyond the growing interest in DeFi protocols and DEX trading, PancakeSwap’s user-centric upgrade also contributed to the $310 billion milestone, a PancakeSwap spokesperson told Cointelegraph:
<blockquote>
 “Additionally, our focus on enhancing key features — such as the revamped swap interface, PancakeSwapX, and tools like the Telegram Swap bot — has helped improve the user experience and drive greater engagement.”
</blockquote>
<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/pancakeswapx-launches-gasless-swaps-zero-fee-transfers" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">PancakeSwapX was launched</a> on Oct. 15, with zero-fee trading and gasless asset swaps on the Ethereum and Arbitrum networks to improve the crypto user experience.
Without products like PancakeSwapX, new DeFi users first need to set up a native Ethereum address and buy Ether (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">ETH)</a> to pay transaction fees before being able to transact on the blockchain.&nbsp;
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-hackers-2024-record-2-3-b-thefts" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">Crypto hacks wipe out $2.3B in 2024, marking 40% YoY surge</a>
Such a complex onboarding process can be intimidating for mainstream users, driving most new crypto investors to <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/centralized-vs-decentralized-crypto-exchanges" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">centralized exchanges (CEXs)</a>.
PancakeSwap is the third-largest <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/what-are-decentralized-exchanges-and-how-do-dexs-work" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">decentralized exchange (DEX)</a> by monthly trading volume, with over $49 billion worth of crypto traded during the past 30 days, DeFiLlama <a href="https://defillama.com/dexs" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">data</a> shows.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/13-christmas-gifts-bitcoin-crypto-degens-will-love/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">13 Christmas gifts that Bitcoin and crypto degens will love</a>

PancakeSwap closes record $310B year, up 179% driven by L2, DeFi growth

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