Multi-chain decentralized alternate (DEX) PancakeSwap has notched its most spectacular quarter but, racking up $205.3 billion in buying and selling quantity in Q1 2025.
Nevertheless, in a paradox that has the crypto neighborhood scratching its head, the platform’s native CAKE token stays caught within the oven, struggling to rise above the $2 mark.
A File-Breaking Quarter
The most recent data from Dune Analytics exhibits that PancakeSwap’s Q1 2025 wasn’t only a marginal enchancment however a full-blown breakout. Buying and selling quantity has jumped 921%, going from $20.1 billion in 2023 to the present $205.3 billion. It additionally boasts 5.83 million distinctive merchants, an 81% improve from two years in the past.
Equally, transaction counts have adopted go well with, going from 44.1 million in Q1 2023 to 114.4 million within the first three months of 2025.
A part of this meteoric rise could be attributed to current upgrades just like the CAKE Tokenomics 3.0, formally launched on April 23, 2025. This overhaul retired a number of outdated mechanisms, similar to CAKE staking, veCAKE, income sharing, and farm boosting, whereas kick-starting a brand new period of lowered CAKE emissions.
Nevertheless, regardless of the blockbuster efficiency and a seemingly bullish shift in fundamentals, CAKE’s market worth has continued to underwhelm. In line with CoinGecko, its worth fluctuated between $1.93 and $2.05 earlier than lastly settling at $1.95, a 3.8% dip within the earlier 24 hours.
The numbers have been a lot better throughout the week, with CAKE posting an 8.7% uptick to marginally edge out the broader crypto market’s 8.5% progress in the identical interval. Nonetheless, it nonetheless lagged behind comparable Ethereum ecosystem tokens, which rallied 12.7% within the final seven days.
Value Struggles Amidst Development
The image is extra stark when zooming out additional. CAKE misplaced 24.6% of its worth over the previous month, whereas it’s down 36.2% year-on-year. Moreover, its present worth is 95.6% decrease than its all-time excessive of $43.96, recorded about 4 years in the past.
Even with a circulating provide of 313 million and a complete worth locked (TVL) surpassing $1.64 billion per knowledge from DefiLlama, investor confidence within the token seems tepid, possibly resulting from macroeconomic uncertainties weighing on altcoins.
The disconnect between PancakeSwap’s utilization metrics and token worth hasn’t gone unnoticed. On X, one neighborhood member referred to as CAKE “considerably undervalued,” suggesting it ought to at the least “match Uniswap’s worth.”
Others have been extra skeptical, one bluntly remarking, “Cake continues to be lifeless.” One other responded to PancakeSwap’s milestone publish with a cryptic “In all probability nothing,” a meme-like nod to the neighborhood’s doubtfulness amid ongoing volatility.
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