BNB: The Rise Of An Exchange Token
In today’s blockchain landscape, most cryptocurrencies exist as speculation bets on services and products that have yet to translate to actual use cases and products.
BNB, which was originally launched on the Ethereum blockchain and created to pay for fees on the Binance exchange, has advanced into now becoming a widely used utility token with over 100 different use cases, and having migrated into Binance’s proprietary blockchain, Binance Chain. In this article, I will talk about a few of those use cases that will show how much BNB has grown its usefulness and significance over the past two years.
When Binance launched its exchange in the early summer of 2017, it introduced BNB, a cryptocurrency that allows users to pay for trading fees at a discounted rate on the Binance exchange. BNB was first issued and launched during an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) crowdfunding event, where it was initially issued as an ERC-20 token (on the Ethereum platform), but soon after transferred to the main Binance Chain.
The token sale offered 100,000,000 units of BNB, which was 50% of the total supply, in which the initial total supply of BNB was defined as 200,000,000 coins, but because of the regular coin burn events, the supply is gradually decreasing.
Within Binance Exchange, BNB is used as a utility token that allows users to receive discounts when paying for their trading fees. The initial 50% trading fee discount offered by the token during Binance’s first year, which has been adjusted to the current 25% rate, was the first of many use cases where BNB has driven Binance’s global ecosystem growth, with the fee discount is gradually reduced after every quarter until it reaches 0% on the 15th of July, 2021.
Ever since Binance launched the BNB Initial Coin Offering in July 2017, the number use cases for BNB has surpassed the original intentions for the utility token and has unquestionably assured its role as one of the most popular tokens in the blockchain space. Today, BNB is being accepted and used in various use cases, both internally and beyond the bounds of the Binance ecosystem.
When you see Binance’s growth and expansion over the past two years, it’s safe to say that BNB has been driving that expansion, since the largest increases in use cases for BNB have come within the Binance ecosystem.
Binance Chain is a new blockchain platform developed and launched by the Binance and its community for creating and transferring tokens in a fast and efficient manner. BNB is used as the native token for the blockchain to pay for things that you can do on the platform. With BNB, you can send, receive, burn/mint and freeze/unfreeze tokens, as well as stake your BNB to join Chain Governance in the future.
Binance DEX is the decentralized exchange built directly on top of Binance Chain, allowing you to exchange digital assets issued and listed on it. BNB is the native asset on Binance DEX and is used for payments for various fees.
Binance Launchpad is the token sale platform of Binance, where you will be able to participate in IEOs and receive your tokens directly into your Binance wallet. Binance Launchpad creates an exclusive use case for BNB, as investors can only participate in token sales with the token for the goal of driving utility to the projects on Binance Launchpad.
Binance Lending is a cryptocurrency lending platform from Binance, which offers various lending products where you can grow your BNB holdings.
BNB is also being for another unique use case, about 9 in 10 Binance employees receive a portion of their salaries in BNB. Binance has shown that BNB is being used not only on exchanges to be traded on and to pay for fees, but it is also being used across the expanding Binance ecosystem.
Crypto Briefing’s research arm, Simetri, recently put out a report stating:
“BNB’s utility has increased substantially. The coin finds more acceptance for payments and has been integrated by other companies in financial services such as lending.”
BNB use case has been expanding outside of Binance, and over the past two years, Binance has collaborated with many blockchain and non-blockchain companies/applications driving further crypto adoption.
People can pay for travel booking with BNB via TravelbyBit, an Australian startup that has equipped over 150 establishments, including the entire Brisbane Airport, with the ability to pay for goods and services using cryptocurrencies. On TravelbyBit alone, more than USD 700,000 worth flights and hotels were booked between 2018 and 2019.
BNB is being used as a payment method on platforms made by blockchain startups such as blockchain payments company Crypto.com, and crypto point-of-sale solutions provider Pundi X through their merchant POS systems around the world.
CanWork is a global platform used to hire affordable, quality freelancers from around the globe which allows you to pay the fee in BNB token.
Propy is a blockchain-based real estate startup that allows users to buy and sell real estate through blockchain, and they accept BNB as payment for property listings.
You can now store and use BNB through the built-in crypto wallet on the latest Samsung S10 smartphone.
All the use cases listed above show that BNB is being recognized as a major cryptocurrency with a vast amount of utility. Depending on whether you use it to pay for goods and services, exchange fees, or for travel booking, BNB has become a fully operational asset with a wide acceptance that rivals most cryptocurrencies today.
