DEX Battle Heats up as PancakeSwap TVL Catches Uniswap

According to data from DappRadar, and the platform itself, the total value locked for the DeFi DEX PancakeSwap has reached $5.5 billion in BNB equivalent.

The platform tweeted the milestone all-time high over the weekend, adding that it includes all liquidity pools combined.

TVL figures vary depending on the data provider, but most are in agreement that PancakeSwap has finally caught up with the world’s most popular decentralized exchange, Uniswap.

That’s a lot. pic.twitter.com/qosKEA0ahg

— PancakeSwap 🥞 #BSC (@PancakeSwap) March 27, 2021

SushiSwap Sliding

DappRadar is currently listing a $5.4 billion TVL figure for Uniswap, whereas DeFiPulse, which only tracks Ethereum based DeFi protocols, reports a collateral figure of $4.1 billion for the automated market maker.

SushiSwap, meanwhile, is also losing ground to the BSC-based PancakeSwap exchange. Both DeFi analytics providers are reporting around $4 billion in TVL for SushiSwap.

Researchers at The Block have noted that SushiSwap’s trade volume peaked at 73.3% of Uniswap’s in early January but has declined to just 13.6% today.

SushiSwap daily trade volume peaked at 73.3% of Uniswap in early January.

Today, it has declined to just 13.6%. pic.twitter.com/PXoz0FZBvC

— honkasalo (@mhonkasalo) March 28, 2021

In terms of daily volumes, PancakeSwap leads with $612 million, Uniswap has $553 million over the past 24 hours, while SushiSwap trails the two with just $154 million, according to DappRadar.

Both Ethereum based decentralized exchanges have lost ground to PancakeSwap for one reason alone – exorbitant transaction fees.

While gas prices have fallen back from their sky-high levels in late February, they are still too high for the average user. According to Bitinfocharts.com, the average transaction price has fallen back to around $13.45, but this is just an average.

Complex operations such as smart contract swaps or liquidity provision on Uniswap can cost as much as $30, according to Etherscan. Binance Smart Chain transactions cost a fraction of this, which is why it has grown in popularity despite the concept that many of the obscure tokens listed on PancakeSwap are not really serving a purpose aside from liquidity generation.

DEX Token Price Update

The native CAKE token has made over 2,500% since the beginning of this year, though it is trading down around 8% on the day at the time of press at $16.78. CAKE hit an all-time high of just under $20 on Feb. 20 and was close to reaching those levels again over the weekend.

UNI prices, meanwhile, are also down on the day, dropping 2% to $28. The DEX token has also fallen heavily over the past seven days shedding 15% as crypto markets corrected.

Joining the top two, SUSHI has also lost with a 6% slide dropping prices to $15.35. SUSHI has lost 19% since the same time last week.