Ankr Helps Launch the Future of BSC: Sidechains

3 min readMar 31, 2022

Ankr is excited to announce that we have launched the first Binance Smart Chain Application Sidechain (BAS) testnet along with Celer and NodeReal! The BAS Testnet is a framework for creating sidechains (aka subnets) dedicated to applications in the BNB Chain ecosystem. This announcement was a critical moment in the BNB Chain’s 2022 roadmap, and Ankr is proud to support the BNB ecosystem as an infrastructure partner.

As a blockchain infrastructure provider, Ankr has witnessed an incredible increase in traffic to the Binance Smart Chain over the past year as it is extremely popular for those launching new Web3 games and dApps. Since then, Ankr has assisted in bringing the Erigon client performance upgrade and now the new architecture for application side chains as a key infrastructure partner.

What Is BAS?

The Binance Smart Chain Application Sidechain (BAS) framework will allow developers to build extremely scalable dApps and games running on Binance Smart Chain via dedicated sidechains. Additionally, apps running on BSC sidechains will have extremely low or even zero transaction fees — this is incredible news to improve user experience. BAS allows considerably more participating projects such as crypto games to run simultaneously within the Binance ecosystem.

Why Build With BSC Sidechains?

BAS will enable developers to create and operate their own dedicated blockchains better suited to serve a vast userbase without needing to compete with traffic coming from all the other apps running on BSC. BAS lets developers create their own distinct consensus engine and modern execution environment.

“Scalability for L1s is going to be determined by subnet infrastructures. This is currently taking shape across the space, with BNB Chain, Ankr, Celer, and NodeReal demonstrating clear market leadership in their anticipation of this,”

– Greg Gopman, CMO at Ankr.

Launching a dedicated blockchain for an application will now be incredibly easy with this readymade framework for BAS. Additionally, dApp developers won’t even need to run their own nodes if they use decentralized node infrastructure from Ankr.

How Does BAS Work?

As you can see, many BAS chains can run under the hub that is the Binance Smart Chain. This unburdens the BSC by creating a dedicated (application-specific) blockchain for every application that desires one.

BAS can be implemented in many different ways, including PoS side chains and ZKRollups. BAS Frameworks and Testnet’s initial implementations are based on PoS networks.

The first version of BAS is optimized for blockchain gaming and the new revolution of play-to-earn “GameFi.” In other words, it will provide the most benefits for those building Web3/blockchain games with extremely fast transactions with ultra-low or zero fees.

How Can I Get Started?

Developers can start building today as we’ve already launched the first BAS testnet!

BAS is a permission-less subchain and doesn’t enforce any technical specification on how to implement it. So project developers can begin by choosing Go-Ethereum source code as a baseline for quick launches. More sophisticated users can also feel free to utilize advanced tech such as sharding, L2, and Wasm smart contract engine in their implementation based on specific use cases or running conditions.

About Ankr

Ankr is building the future of decentralized infrastructure and multi-chain integrations, servicing over 50 proof-of-stake chains with an industry-leading global node delivery system and developer toolkit. Ankr serves over 1T transactions a year across Web3 and is the main infrastructure provider for BSC, Fantom, and Polygon chains as of 2022.

Follow Ankr here