BNB

What is Binance Coin (BNB)?

BNB is the cryptocurrency token that powers the BNB Chain ecosystem and the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. One of its first uses was to pay trading and transaction fees on the Binance exchange.

Today, BNB has gained many more use cases both within and outside of the Binance ecosystem. It has also become a strong store of value in its own right, aided by Binance carrying out regular "burns" of the token.

When Was BNB Launched?

Like many other coins of its vintage, BNB was launched through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in June and July 2017.

Despite being used to raise funds, BNB was not used in a manner similar to stocks in a traditional corporation, offering no governance rights or profit-sharing mechanism. As such, BNB was issued at a price of 20,000 BNB to 1 Bitcoin or 2,700 BNB to 1 ETH.

At launch, BNB existed in the form of an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain and had a supply of 200 million BNB. Out of this supply, 100 million BNB were issued at the ICO, 80 million went to the team, and the remainder went to angel investors.

Who are the Founders of BNB?

BNB was a key part of the Binance exchange, which was launched 11 days after the BNB ICO and used BNB for the payment of trading and transaction fees.

Binance is the brainchild of Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, who is a former employee of Bloomberg and Blockchain.info, the co-founder of OKCoin, and the founder and ex-CEO of BijieTech.

Alongside CZ, at the launch of Binance and BNB were:

• CTO Roger Wang, a former technology expert in investment banking
• Chief Architect James Hofbauer, who had the same role at BijieTech
• VP of Engineering Paul Jankunas, an experienced trading systems developer
• Allan Yan and Sunny Li, two directors who also co-founded BijieTech

According to the Binance whitepaper, other investors and advisors included Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver, OKCoin co-founder He Yi, FinTech Blockchain Group founder Vincent Zhou, and Heng Pool CEO Liu Sutong.

How Does BNB Work?

While it began its existence as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, the further development of the Binance ecosystem led to new possibilities.

In April 2019, the mainnet of the Binance Chain, now known as the BNB Beacon Chain, was launched. The creation of this chain allowed Binance to swap ERC-20 BNB to BEP-2 BNB on the Binance Chain at a rate of 1:1.

The Binance Smart Chain (now called BNB Smart Chain) followed a year and a half later and runs in parallel with the BNB Beacon Chain.

BNB, therefore, can be found in three different forms:

• ERC-20 BNB on Ethereum
• BEP-2 BNB on the BNB Beacon Chain, where it serves as the chain’s native token
• BEP-20 BNB on the BNB Smart Chain

How is the BNB Network Secured?

Since BNB is present in three forms on three different blockchains, it is subject to the consensus mechanisms of each.

ERC-20 BNB is secured by Ethereum. Currently, it uses proof-of-work (PoW) consensus like Bitcoin, where computers (or GPUs) dedicate their computing power to the network by solving cryptographic problems.

BEP-2 BNB, meanwhile, relies on the Binance Beacon Chain’s Tendermint Byzantine Fault Tolerance consensus mechanism, shared by the Cosmos blockchain. 

This is, in essence, a proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism where validators stake their token holdings in order to participate and risk those stakes being slashed, or destroyed, if they misbehave.

Finally, the Binance Smart Chain hosting BEP-20 is based on Ethereum, but instead of PoW it uses a consensus mechanism called proof-of-staked-authority (PoSA).

PoSA allows for short block times and low transaction costs by combining PoS with proof-of-authority consensus. Validators, which are limited to just 21, are network participants that stake a certain amount of BNB.

This means that only the top 21 BNB stakers on the Binance Smart Chain count as validators that can validate transactions. Although this makes things a lot faster than a lot of other alternatives, it sacrifices decentralization.

How is BNB Upgraded?

As Binance is a centralized entity, the development of BNB is controlled entirely by them.

All decisions when upgrading or improving the BNB token are taken and implemented by Binance.

What Makes BNB Unique?

The position of its creators, Binance, as a world leader in cryptocurrency innovation makes BNB very unique. Binance began as a cryptocurrency exchange in 2017, but has since expanded to provide services in a variety of fields, as well as unparalleled global reach.

Thanks to the rapid expansion and innovation of Binance, the use cases of BNB have grown similarly.

While it started simply as a token for fee payment, BNB now serves as a utility token on the Binance Smart Chain and powers the Binance decentralized exchange on the Beacon Chain.

The Binance Launchpad, used for the launch of new projects and tokens, allows users to participate using the BNB token. Charitable donations made via Binance Charity are done so using BNB, and it is used to provide liquidity on Binance Liquid Swap.

BNB’s core utility, however, remains the payment of gas fees for smart contracts on BSC and staking on selected validators to get rewards.

What is the Binance Ecosystem?

The Binance ecosystem represents the suite of technology and services developed by Binance since its launch as a cryptocurrency exchange in 2017.

Most significantly, Binance operates two blockchains, the Binance Beacon Chain and the Binance Smart Chain.

Binance Beacon Chain, which was the first to launch, hosts the Binance DEX and is 100% controlled by Binance without any community involvement or decentralized ownership.

The Binance Smart Chain is more decentralized since it allows other validators, but these validators are vetted by Binance. Unlike BC, BSC is a programmable platform on which any dApp can be deployed.

Binance manages the Binance Chain Wallet, a browser extension wallet for both the Binance Chain and the Binance Smart Chain. The Trust Wallet, also owned by Binance, supports BSC as well as other network protocols like Ethereum, Tron, EOS, and Solana.

Interoperability with other networks is one of the rising paradigms in the blockchain space, and Binance launched the Binance Bridge for that purpose. It is a platform that enables you to bring tokens minted and issued on other chains to the Binance DEX and BSC ecosystem via a system called "pegging in."

"Pegging in" refers to the process of creating a token on the Binance Bridge that is wrapped and pegged to the value of the native asset. Pegging out is the reverse, where these tokens are converted back to their native versions.

Binance also has a card system that rewards BNB holders with cashback and incubation platforms. What’s more, it also has its own mining pools and liquidity platforms.

How Much BNB Is In Circulation?

At launch, BNB had a maximum supply of 200 million BNB. Since then, this figure has significantly shrunk.

Binance burns a certain amount of BNB every three months, with the ultimate goal of bringing the total supply to 100 million BNB.

The exact amount of BNB burned, according to Binance, depends on how many trades are performed on the exchange in the relevant three-month period. These burns can be verified on Etherscan after they are announced by Binance.

How is BNB Burned?

BNB, like most other cryptocurrencies, can be destroyed by their holder. On some blockchains, such as Ethereum, burned coins are simply sent to a dead wallet.

The Binance Coin smart contract, however, has a function called the Burn Function. A holder of a wallet can call this function if they wish to. After verification of the wallet balance, those coins are destroyed.

As of April 2022, Binance has completed 19 BNB Coin Burn events, with a total of over 36 million BNB burned, bringing the total supply down to just over 163 million BNB.

How Do You Buy BNB?

One of the easiest ways to buy BNB, naturally, is within the Binance ecosystem. You can do this either on the main cryptocurrency exchange, the DEX, or in swaps on the Binance smart chain.

However, BNB is also available on other exchanges, including Ethereum DEXes, thanks to its popularity.

To purchase BNB on a centralized exchange like Binance, you’ll need to create an account that may require verification, including Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures.

The investment in BNB on DEXes and DeFi, on the other hand, will simply require a wallet that is compatible with Ethereum or Binance blockchains.

Is It Possible to Buy BNB Instantly?

How quickly you can purchase BNB will depend on whether you’re buying it on centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges, or decentralized finance on the Ethereum and Binance blockchains.

Given their speed, purchasing BNB on the two Binance blockchains is almost instantaneous, and transactions settle in mere seconds.

Ethereum transactions may be a little slower, however, given the typical congestion of the blockchain. Nevertheless, at a few minutes at most, they’re still a lot faster than traditional finance.

On the CEX, meanwhile, transactions are instant. However, there is no actual settlement of funds when a trade is made. Rather, settlement occurs when you withdraw your purchased funds into a private wallet.

How Do You Store BNB?

BNB can be stored in a wallet as well as in a CEX account. While a CEX account or other centralized crypto custody service holds the BNB on your behalf, using a wallet allows you to take full custody of your BNB.

There are two types of wallets:

• Cold wallet: Referring to cold storage, these wallets don’t connect to the internet. Whether it’s just private keys scribbled on a piece of paper or a computer without a network connection, cold wallets always stay offline.
• Hot wallet: In contrast, hot wallets connect to the internet. The most common types of hot wallets are desktop clients and browser extensions. A notable example right out of the Binance ecosystem is the Trustwallet, which is owned and maintained by Binance.

BNB’s Energy Consumption

The proof-of-work consensus mechanism has received a lot of criticism for its energy usage. Some of that criticism may be justified, as it requires as many computers as possible to dedicate their power to securing the network.

However, newer blockchains tend to use less energy-hungry mechanisms. Binance Smart Chain, for example, uses proof-of-staked-authority, which involves only 21 validators. This is centralized, but it also means a very low energy requirement for the chain as a whole.

Is BNB a Good Investment?

Investing in BNB is considered by some to be an investment in Binance itself. Still, holding BNB doesn’t come with any entitlement towards profit sharing or government in the exchange or the ecosystem as a whole.

However, Binance’s rapid growth from its launch in 2017 to one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency players in 2022 has also seen BNB make astronomical gains in value.

Binance’s quarterly burning with a target of a 100 million BNB supply also offers a certain level of scarcity not offered by every cryptocurrency.

Given that BNB has many use cases and a scarce, decreasing supply, a lot of investors view it very favorably. However, BNB’s value remains dependent on the strength and growth of Binance, suggesting that it may share the company’s risk profile.