How PancakeSwap Is Thriving in DeFi While CAKE Struggles to Keep Up

While PancakeSwap leads in the DeFi market, CAKE’s price has yet to catch up with the platform’s momentum.

With current technical advancements and strategies, PancakeSwap has the potential to continue growing, but the road ahead remains fraught with challenges.

PancakeSwap’s Rise in the DeFi Market

PancakeSwap, one of the decentralized exchanges (DEX) on BNB Chain, is solidifying its strong position in decentralized finance (DeFi). According to the latest data from Dune Analytics, PancakeSwap led in trading volume market share over the past seven days, with an impressive 66.9%.

PancakeSwap’s monthly volume. Source: DefiLlama

Not stopping there, DefiLlama reports that the exchange recorded a monthly trading volume of up to $149 billion. This figure surpasses its major competitor on Ethereum, Uniswap, which recorded $86 billion.

Moreover, PancakeSwap’s fees have reached over $120 million over the past 30 days. This has placed the platform in the top 3 and even surpassed Pump.fun, a prominent name in the DeFi space.

PancakeSwap’s fees. Source: DefiLlama

This remarkable growth can be attributed to recent technical improvements made by PancakeSwap.

A post on X from PancakeSwap’s official account on May 22 stated that the team optimized its data acquisition mechanism using an internal indexer. This addressed the issue of delayed TVL (Total Value Locked) data from external providers, which lasted over two weeks and affected optimal trade routing on Binance Wallet Swap. 

After implementing this solution, PancakeSwap restored optimal routing functionality and collaborated with external providers to build a stronger platform, preventing similar issues in the future. These technical enhancements improved performance but also strengthened user confidence in the platform.

Additionally, the launch of the Infinity upgrade (formerly PancakeSwap v4) in late April 2025 significantly contributed to its current success. This upgrade introduced capital-efficient liquidity pools, hooks, and customizable fees, creating more favorable conditions for liquidity providers on BNB Chain. 

These factors have helped PancakeSwap attract many users and transactions, particularly with the MERL token of Merlin Chain, which recorded a trading volume of over $409 million in just 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Trading volume on PancakeSwap accounts for 59%.

Merlin Chain’s trading volume. Source: CoinGecko

CAKE Price: A Journey Contrasting with the Platform’s Achievements

Despite PancakeSwap’s remarkable achievements, the price of its native token, CAKE, paints a less interesting picture. According to CoinGecko data, CAKE’s price dropped 9% in the past 24 hours, while only rising slightly by 1.6% over the last 7 days.

CAKE’s price. Source: BeInCrypto

Currently, CAKE is trading at $2.53, down 93.9% from its all-time high. Although CAKE’s market capitalization still ranks 114th on CoinGecko, this price decline has left many investors questioning the token’s long-term potential.

However, some traders remain confident in CAKE’s long-term potential. Trader huahuayjy commented,

“As long as Binance Alpha continues to thrive, cake will be discovered for its value, and all the transaction fees from Alpha’s volume will see cake take 30%. Cake will soon become the most profitable protocol,” a trader commented.