PumpFun Switches to USDC as Sui and BNB Chain Roll Out Major Upgrades

• PumpFun expands to USDC trading pairs, strengthening stablecoin settlement for new tokens
• Sui enables gas-free stablecoin transfers on mainnet, improving payment efficiency
• BNB Chain post-quantum tests show 1,438% block growth and reduced throughput under load

A new wave of platform and network upgrades shaped recent crypto market activity as PumpFun expanded support to USDC trading pairs. At the same time, Sui deployed gas-free stablecoin transfers on its mainnet, reducing transaction friction. Meanwhile, BNB Chain continued post-quantum security testing while ecosystem indicators showed mixed liquidity and growth performance.

PumpFun Expands Stablecoin Trading Structure

PumpFun added USDC trading pairs for newly launched tokens across its platform. Existing SOL pairs remain active for legacy trading markets. The update strengthens stablecoin settlement options for early-stage token trading.

Solana network applications generated $342.2 million in revenue during Q1 2026. PumpFun accounted for $124.7 million, representing a significant share of ecosystem activity. This reinforced its position among the top-performing applications on the network.

However, Solana DeFi total value locked fell 22% to $6.16 billion. The decline followed a 33% drop in SOL price during the same period. Despite this, no confirmed large-scale user exit was observed.

Solana real-world asset value rose 43% to $2.01 billion. Tokenized products such as BENJI reached $1.4 billion in on-chain value. Institutional inflows continued supporting growth in on-chain financial instruments.

Sui and BNB Chain Push Infrastructure Limits

Sui launched gas-free stablecoin transfers on its mainnet network. Supported assets include USDC, FDUSD, AUSD, USDsui, SuiUSDe, USDY, and USDB. The feature removes gas requirements for supported stablecoin transfers.

Fireblocks integrated the update for enterprise payment systems. The rollout reduces friction in both retail and institutional transactions. It also positions Sui for broader stablecoin adoption.

BNB Chain released its post-quantum cryptography migration report. The testing used ML-DSA-44 signatures and pqSTARK aggregation methods. Results confirmed feasibility but revealed scaling constraints under stress conditions.

Signature sizes increased from 65 bytes to 2,420 bytes. Block sizes expanded by roughly 1,438%, reaching around 2 MB at 2,000 TPS. Cross-region throughput declined by about 40% under test workloads.

Developers noted that data expansion remains a major limitation for production use.

Optimization work continues to reduce overhead and improve efficiency. Both Sui and BNB Chain are focusing on long-term scalability and security resilience.