Top 5 Busiest Blockchains of 2025: Solana, BNB Chain, Base, Tron and NEAR Lead by Transactions

Published: 2026-01-02 13:59:27 |

Onchain analytics firm Nansen ranked the five busiest blockchains in 2025 by transaction count: Solana (23.01 billion), BNB Chain (3.89 billion), Base (3.29 billion), Tron (3.22 billion) and NEAR (1.89 billion). Traders favoured high-throughput, low-fee networks, with retail activity and memecoin trading powering much of the volume. Solana led after a DEX trading boom and a memecoin frenzy (notably celebrity/political tokens) that pushed quarterly DEX volume to $293.7 billion and monthly DEX volumes often above $100 billion. BNB Chain saw a parallel memecoin surge. Coinbase’s Base captured significant L2 activity via direct Coinbase user distribution; Messari estimates Base protocol revenue rose ~30x in 2025, taking 62% of L2 revenue and supporting DEXs, AI-linked apps and prediction platforms. Tron’s high activity reflected its role in the stablecoin economy—TRON DAO reported over half of circulating USDT is issued on Tron, with stablecoin supply up ~40% year‑to‑date and daily transfer volumes in the tens of billions. NEAR’s growth included 46 million users by May and notable privacy-linked activity after Zcash (ZEC) integrations via the Zashi wallet and NEAR Intents, which helped ZEC’s shielded supply hit record levels and drove millions in daily ZEC-related volume. For traders: the data highlights that low-fee, high-throughput chains with active retail use cases (DEXs, memecoins, stablecoin rails, L2 distribution) drove 2025 transaction leadership—factors likely to influence short-term trading volume, liquidity and fee dynamics across these chains.

Bullish

The ranking and data point to rising onchain activity concentrated on low‑fee, high‑throughput chains and an expanding user base—conditions generally supportive of higher trading volumes, liquidity and ecosystem growth. Solana’s DEX-driven volume and memecoin cycle boosted trading activity and fees on that chain; similar memecoin and retail trading trends on BNB Chain amplified demand there. Base’s rapid revenue growth and heavy L2 adoption signal meaningful fee capture and developer interest, which can attract capital and trading flow from Ethereum. Tron’s role as a stablecoin issuance and transfer hub drives sustained transaction throughput and liquidity for USDT rails. NEAR’s user growth and privacy integrations (ZEC flows) diversify onchain use cases, attracting distinct capital and trading strategies. Historically, surges in retail-driven DEX and memecoin activity (e.g., 2021–2022 memecoin cycles on Ethereum-compatible chains) produced short-term price rallies and elevated volumes, benefiting tokens and native chain activity while increasing volatility. Therefore, traders can expect higher short-term liquidity and volatility on these chains and tokens, with potential for quick price moves tied to memecoin and stablecoin flows. In the longer term, sustained developer activity, L2 adoption (Base) and stablecoin settlement rails (Tron) support durable demand and network monetization, which is constructive for ecosystem tokens and service revenues—an overall bullish structural signal for the market segments highlighted.