CAKE, the native cryptocurrency of PancakeSwap, a decentralized exchange on the BNB Chain, has surged over 45% within the last 24 hours.CAKE surged from a low of $1.78 to a high of $2.69 in early Monday's session, extending yesterday's recovery from lows of $1.383. At the time of writing, PancakeSwap was up 40% to $2.48 and up 59% weekly.

The surge comes as the BNB Chain's decentralized exchange (DEX) ecosystem hit a staggering $1.64 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours, surpassing Solana and securing the top spot in DEX volume.

One of the driving factors behind this surge is the recent frenzy surrounding meme coins such as Mubarak, which have gained significant traction on the BNB Chain. This has contributed to the explosive rise in activity, driving up BNB Chain's DEX volume.  

PancakeSwap, the BNB Chain's leading DEX, is at the center of this surge.  Over the last 24 hours, PancakeSwap has emerged as the DEX with the most trading volume, influencing CAKE's price.

In addition to CAKE, other BNB Chain tokens are seeing price increases, owing to increasing activity and interest in the ecosystem. BNB has increased by 7%, outpacing the rest of the top 10 cryptocurrencies. The newly launched Mubarak meme coin has surged by an impressive 95% in the last 24 hours.

BNB network to receive major upgrade

The BNB network is set to welcome new improvements. The BNB Chain’s Pascal Hardfork will be bringing EIP-7702 to the mainnet on March 20. This is not just another upgrade but a new way to think about transactions on the BNB Chain.

The EIP-7702 would allow Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to temporarily act as smart contracts within a single transaction.

This eliminates BNB's need for gas, allowing users to transact even if they do not have any.  Right now, every user must have BNB to pay gas fees, which is a significant barrier for new customers. With EIP-7702, gas fees can be sponsored by a paymaster (another wallet or service)