BNB Chain validators have put forward a proposal to significantly reduce network costs by lowering the minimum gas price from 0.1 Gwei to 0.05 Gwei. Additionally, block intervals would be shortened from 750 milliseconds to 450 milliseconds.
This strategic move aims to push the average transaction cost down to approximately $0.005, positioning BNB Chain as a strong competitor against other low-fee blockchains like Solana and Base.
The current proposal follows previous fee reductions implemented in 2024. In April, gas fees were cut from 3 Gwei to 1 Gwei, followed by another reduction to 0.1 Gwei in May, resulting in a cumulative 75% drop in transaction costs.
The proposal emphasizes that "as long as the staking Annual Percentage Yield (APY) remains above 0.5%, BNB Chain should aim for the lowest possible gas fees," establishing ultra-low costs as a fundamental principle for network expansion.
The timing of this initiative is crucial, coinciding with a surge in on-chain trading activity. The decentralized exchange Aster has emerged as a leading platform, processing a substantial $29.37 billion in perpetual futures volume in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.
Data from DefiLlama further highlights Aster's performance, showing daily revenues of $7.2 million, which is more than double the $2.79 million generated by HyperLiquid.
The success is reflected in the respective tokens' market performance. The ASTR token surged 37% in the past day, boosting its market cap from $931 million to $3.74 billion. In contrast, the HYPE token has seen a decline in value.
Trading-related transactions now constitute 67% of all activity on BNB Chain, a significant increase from 20% at the beginning of 2025. The proposal suggests that a lower-cost environment will further accelerate this growth.
Meanwhile, the BNB token has experienced a slight decrease of 1% over the past 24 hours but continues to trade above the key $1,000 level, with daily trading volume exceeding $3.8 billion.