Binance Coin (BNB) is the native digital asset for the popular crypto exchange platform Binance, the Binance Chain (built for BNB transactions), and the Binance Smart Chain (Binance’s smart contract platform).
Although BNB can be traded on the open market, it is not commonly accepted on other exchanges.
Binance Coin started as an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token but switched to its own native asset (BEP2 tokens) with the release moved to its own network, the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), in 2019.
As a utility token, its main utility is to be used for trading/swapping fees on the Binance exchange, the Binance Chains, and the protocols built on top of the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). You get a discount on trading fees if you trade with BNB.
It can also be staked on the BSC to secure the network and for governance voting. And it can also be used for commerce when using a Binance credit card or Binance Pay services.
A key feature of the Binance Coin is that when users swap or use apps in the Binance ecosystem, the fees generated can be paid with other tokens, but users enjoy a discounted fee when paying with BNB.
BNB has a limit of 200 million tokens, half of which were sold in an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2017 while 10% went to angel investors. The founding team kept 40% of the tokens.
Another key feature of the Binance Coin is that its supply is set to decrease as a portion of all fees are burned through the BNB Auto-Burn program. The protocol will burn tokens every quarter until the supply drops below 100 million tokens.
Team Background
Launched with an ICO in 2017, Binance is one of the world’s largest and most liquid crypto exchanges to date.
Apart from functioning as an exchange, it also features several user-friendly DeFi products, as well as a crypto Visa card and NFT platform.
Binance was founded by He-Yi and Changpeng Zhao, who is the company’s CEO.
Zhao, who is more popularly known as CZ, has worked for crypto companies like Blockchain.info and OKCoin before co-founding Binance.
Token Metrics:
- Holder Addresses: 1.7M Binance Smart Chain, 322K on Ethereum
- Max Supply: 200,000,000
- Total supply: 161,000,000 in Oct. 2022; Binance will Auto-burn BNB quarterly until supply drops below 100M coins
Notable Projects in Ecosystem
- PancakeSwap: Automated Market Maker for Binance Smart Chain
- Venus: Lending and Borrowing Protocol
- Tranchess: Yield Enhancing Asset Tracker
- Alpaca Finance: Leverage yield farming protocol
- Ellipsis Finance: Stable Swapping DEX protocol
- CREAM Finance: Money markets, liquid staking, and protocol-to-protocol lending
Notable Events in Project History
- Binance Chain launched its DEX Testnet in February 2019
- Binance Chain Mainnet launched in April 2019
Notable Investors:
- LuneX Ventures
- Multicoin Capital
- M31 Capital