BNB (BNB)

BNB (originally Binance Coin) is the native cryptocurrency of the BNB Chain ecosystem and the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. It was launched in 2017 through an initial coin offering (ICO) and has since become one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap.

Originally an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, BNB migrated to its own blockchain—BNB Chain (formerly Binance Smart Chain)—which supports smart contracts and decentralized applications with lower fees than Ethereum.

BNB has multiple use cases: trading fee discounts on Binance, gas fees on BNB Chain, participation in token sales on Binance Launchpad, and utility in the broader Binance ecosystem.

Binance conducts quarterly token burns to reduce the total supply of BNB, with a goal of eventually reducing the supply from the original 200 million to 100 million tokens.

BNB Chain uses a proof-of-staked-authority (PoSA) consensus mechanism, combining elements of proof-of-stake and proof-of-authority. This allows for faster block times (3 seconds) and lower fees compared to Ethereum.

Validators on BNB Chain must stake BNB to participate in block production. The network selects validators based on their staked amount and reputation, with 21 active validators at any time.

BNB is used to pay for gas fees on BNB Chain, similar to how ETH is used on Ethereum. The lower fees have attracted many DeFi projects and users to the ecosystem.

The BNB burn mechanism reduces supply over time based on the trading volume on Binance, creating deflationary pressure on the token.