BNB Chain to Slash Fees as Aster Spurs On-Chain Exchange Wars

Validators on BNB Chain have proposed lowering the minimum gas price from 0.1 Gwei to 0.05 Gwei while reducing block intervals from 750 milliseconds to 450 milliseconds. The goal is to drive average transaction costs down to around $0.005, making the network competitive with low-cost chains such as Solana and Base.The proposal follows a decision In April 2024 to cut gas from 3 Gwei to 1 Gwei, and again in May it was cut to 0.1 Gwei, with fees dropping by 75% as a result.“As long as staking APY remains above 0.5%, BNB Chain should strive to have the lowest gas fees possible,” the proposal notes, framing ultra-low costs as a core principle of network growth.The timing of the proposal is key; on-chain trading activity is booming with decentralized exchange Aster emerging as the breakout trading venue. According to CoinMarketCap, the exchange processed $29.37 billion in perpetual futures volume over the past 24 hours. Data from DefiLlama shows Aster generating $7.2 million in daily revenue, more than double HyperLiquid’s $2.79 million.That strength is mirrored in their tokens. ASTR has surged 37% in the past 24 hours, lifting its market capitalization from $931 million a week ago to $3.74 billion. By contrast, HYPE has shed billions in value, falling from $14.88 billion to $11.73 billion.Trading-related transactions already dominate BNB Chain’s activity, rising from 20% at the start of 2025 to 67% by June. The proposal notes that a lower cost environment could drive further growth.BNB token, meanwhile, is down by 1% in the past 24 hours but still remains above a key psychological level at $1,000 with daily volume topping $3.8 billion.