Decentralized exchange (DEX) giant PancakeSwap has reported its most successful quarter to date, processing a staggering $205.3 billion in trading volume during the first quarter of 2025. This represents a remarkable 921% surge compared to the $20.1 billion recorded in the same period in 2023, according to data from Dune Analytics.
The platform also saw significant growth in user engagement, with 5.83 million unique traders utilizing PancakeSwap in Q1 2025, an 81% increase over the past two years. Transaction counts also mirrored this upward trend, rising from 44.1 million in Q1 2023 to 114.4 million in the first three months of this year.
Recent upgrades, notably the launch of CAKE Tokenomics 3.0 on April 23, 2025, are considered a key driver behind this substantial growth. This overhaul streamlined the platform by retiring older mechanisms like CAKE staking and introducing a new era of reduced CAKE emissions.
Despite the DEX’s blockbuster performance and seemingly positive fundamental shifts, the price of PancakeSwap’s native CAKE token has struggled to gain traction. According to CoinGecko data, CAKE fluctuated narrowly between $1.93 and $2.05 before settling at $1.95, marking a 3.8% decrease in the last 24 hours.
While CAKE did show an 8.7% increase over the past week, marginally outperforming the broader crypto market’s 8.5% growth, it still lagged behind similar tokens within the Ethereum ecosystem, which saw an average rally of 12.7% during the same period.
