CZ reveals his dog's name, triggers 'Broccoli' memecoin frenzy as BNB DEX volumes surge

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has set off a new wave of memecoin frenzy after revealing that his dog's name is Broccoli and sharing a photo of his pet. Within seconds of his post on X.com, a flood of newly minted memecoins bearing the ticker "BROCCOLI" emerged, fueling speculation across the crypto community.

"If you had asked me before last night, I would never have imagined that Broccoli would be part of the blockchain ecosystem, but here we are," the Binance founder posted on X.com. "There is never a dull day in crypto, I am just posting my dog's picture and name, and I am NOT issuing a meme coin myself. It's up to the community to do that (or not)."

He further hinted at engaging with the trend, stating that he will "likely interact with a few of the more popular meme coins on BNB Chain (BSC)."

The reveal of CZ's dog's name and photo followed a series of tweets that began after an X.com user named Vee asked the Binance founder, “Do you have a pet dog?” He responded that he did, noting that his dog is a Belgian Malinois — not a Shiba Inu. He then hinted at a potential memecoin inspired by his dog's name and likeness, announcing on X that he would share a photo of his pet around 8 p.m. Dubai time on Thursday. True to his word, he later posted the image, triggering a wave of newly launched memecoins under the ticker "BROCCOLI."

This latest speculation follows the BNB Chain team’s creation of the Test (TST) memecoin — a BEP-20 token originally developed as part of a tutorial on their Four.meme platform. Although TST was never intended for public trading, CZ’s mention of the token on X on Monday propelled it into the spotlight, with its price surging over 2,000% ahead of its Binance listing on the same day. After reaching an all-time high of $0.56, TST’s price has since pulled back since its listing, finding support at around $0.15.

Contrasting his current playful engagement with memecoins, CZ had expressed reservations about the trend last November, remarking that while he wasn’t against memes, the proliferation of memecoins was becoming maybe “a little” too eccentric. "I am not against memes, but meme coins are getting 'a little' weird now. let's build real applications using blockchain," he posted on X.

PancakeSwap overtakes Uniswap as leading DEX for trading volume

Amid these developments, PancakeSwap's 24-hour trading volume has surpassed Uniswap, reaching over $3 billion and securing its position as the top decentralized exchange (DEX) in both daily and weekly trading volume. Over the past week, PancakeSwap's trading volume has exceeded $21 billion, placing it ahead of Uniswap in second place and Raydium in third, according to DeFiLlama data.

This surge coincides with a strong rally in the BNB token, which has risen 9% in the past 24 hours and over 21.5% in the past week, according to The Block's Price Page. Meanwhile, CAKE, PancakeSwap's native token, has soared 40% in a single day and is up more than 100% in value over the past week.

PancakeSwap is now top DEX in terms of both daily and weekly trading volume. Image: DeFiLlama

An analyst linked some of PancakeSwap’s heightened activity to the speculative frenzy around the TST memecoin. SPACE ID director of business development Harrison Seletsky said the launch of TST and CZ's hints surrounding his pet dog could spark a notable increase in memecoin trading on BNB Chain. He views this as a positive development for BNB, as it would attract more liquidity and onboard new users to the network.

"Created as a test token for a video tutorial on the memecoin creation process by the BNB Chain team, TST quickly amassed cult-like status and became a top-tier memecoin in its own right," Seletsky said. "This just shows the nature of the cryptocurrency market, where something seemingly insignificant can blow up and become incredibly popular when it follows natural narratives and has organic interest."

Seletsky added that it shows the potential appetite within the BNB Chain community to seek out innovative ideas, creative narratives, and sometimes even comedic ways to get involved in this crypto cycle.

"Even if it seemed unlikely at first, TST could be the catalyst for the start of a memecoin season on BNB Chain," the director of business development said. "More memecoin trading would be a welcome addition to the BNB Chain ecosystem, bringing more users and liquidity to the chain while engaging the existing community.”