[004] One Coin, One Conversation: BNB – The Stunning Transformation from Exchange Token to Blockchain Giant

#美停摆危机或将结束？
CZ sketched the outline of Binance Exchange on a blank sheet of paper, never expecting that its native token, BNB, would evolve into an independent blockchain kingdom supporting millions of users and hundreds of billions in assets.

After exploring Solana’s technological innovations, Bitcoin’s value as digital gold, and Cardano’s academic rigor, today we turn our focus to a unique entity in the cryptocurrency world—BNB. Starting as a simple utility token for an exchange, it has now become the core asset supporting the entire BNB Chain ecosystem, with trading volumes consistently ranking among the market’s top.

From Binance’s initial vision to establishing a standalone public chain, and demonstrating resilience in the face of regulatory challenges, BNB’s development trajectory showcases a distinctive path intertwined with centralization and decentralization.

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01 Origin Story: Birth of a Utility Token for an Exchange

BNB’s creation is closely linked to the founding of Binance Exchange. In 2017, amid explosive growth in the global crypto market, Zhao Changpeng and his team, experienced in developing high-frequency trading systems, identified performance bottlenecks and user experience issues faced by exchanges at the time.

Zhao’s vision was not merely to create another exchange but to build a platform capable of handling millions of users’ trading volumes while delivering an exceptional trading experience.

Driven by this vision, in July 2017, Binance raised $15 million through an initial coin offering (ICO), and BNB was officially launched as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain. Its initial purpose was very clear—serving as a utility token within Binance to provide trading fee discounts.

This design was ingenious: it created internal demand, fostered user loyalty, and introduced a key mechanism—periodic token burns. Binance committed to buy back and burn BNB using a portion of its profits regularly, gradually reducing the total supply and creating a deflationary effect, thus laying a foundation for BNB’s long-term value.

02 Market Positioning: From Trading Discount to Multi-Chain Ecosystem

BNB’s evolution is one of the most successful transformation stories in crypto. It transitioned from a simple exchange utility token to a core asset of a multi-layer, multi-functional blockchain ecosystem.

Initial Positioning: Exchange Utility Token
· Trading fee discounts: Using BNB to pay for trading fees on Binance offers discounts
· Participation privileges: Used to participate in token sales on Binance Launchpad
· Payment method: Accepted as a payment tool within Binance’s ecosystem and partner merchants

Ecosystem Evolution: The Birth of BNB Chain
In 2019, BNB migrated from Ethereum to its own BNB Beacon Chain (originally Binance Chain). Subsequently, in 2020, Binance launched BNB Smart Chain, a blockchain compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), supporting smart contracts and decentralized applications.

This strategic move significantly enhanced BNB’s utility—it was no longer just a platform-specific token but became the native asset and fuel for a vast blockchain ecosystem, used to pay for all on-chain transactions and smart contract executions.

Today, BNB supports a multi-chain architecture including BNB Beacon Chain, BNB Smart Chain, decentralized storage network Greenfield, and Layer 2 solutions like opBNB. Its role has shifted from “Binance Coin” to the native asset of a multi-chain ecosystem.

03 Founding Team: Zhao Changpeng and Binance’s Core Roles

The BNB founding team centers around Zhao Changpeng, supported by co-founders like He Yi. Zhao’s professional background profoundly influenced his vision for Binance and BNB.

As a programmer with extensive experience in high-frequency trading system development, Zhao is obsessed with system performance, user experience, and scalability. Binance’s early achievement of processing 1.4 million orders per second quickly attracted global traders.

Under Zhao’s leadership, Binance demonstrated remarkable global expansion and ecosystem-building capabilities. Beyond expanding its exchange business worldwide, Binance established a comprehensive ecosystem including Binance Labs, Binance Research, Binance Academy, and more.

Despite regulatory challenges, Zhao emphasizes the independence of BNB from Binance, positioning it as a community-driven asset operating within a broader blockchain ecosystem. This decentralized development approach provides a solid foundation for BNB’s long-term growth.

04 Recent Developments: Technical Upgrades and Ecosystem Expansion

BNB Chain has recently shown strong momentum, with notable progress in technological upgrades and ecosystem development.

Fourier Hard Fork and Technical Upgrades
According to the latest updates, BNB Chain launched the Fourier hard fork on its testnet on November 10, 2025. This upgrade is a key step in continuously optimizing network performance and functionality.

Meanwhile, on its fifth anniversary, BNB Chain announced its technical roadmap, aiming to increase gas limits to support 10G capacity, enabling 5,000 DEX transactions per second, and achieving ultra-fast finality below 150 milliseconds, with TPS reaching 20,000.

Ecosystem Data and Achievements
As of September 2025, BNB Chain has delivered impressive results:
· Over 4.7 million daily active users, with an average of 1.12 million daily active users on BSC
· Over 611 million unique addresses, with a peak total value locked (TVL) of $14 billion
· More than 5,000 projects built on BNB Chain
· DEX trading volume reaching $319.4 billion, with a peak of $13.3 billion daily

These figures demonstrate the vitality and attractiveness of the BNB Chain ecosystem, indirectly boosting BNB’s value and demand.

05 Future Outlook: Institutional Pathways and New Growth Areas

Looking ahead, BNB’s development focuses on several strategic directions.

Institutionalization and the “B Strategy”
In September 2025, Zhao outlined BNB’s next growth phase, emphasizing its institutional pathway. The “B Strategy,” led by David Namdar, aims to create a U.S.-listed BNB financial company, targeting to raise $1 billion for long-term digital asset management.

This strategy is comparable to MicroStrategy’s model, seeking to provide traditional investors with a regulated BNB investment exposure, thus bridging traditional finance and crypto, potentially attracting significant institutional capital into the BNB ecosystem.

Stablecoins and Real-World Asset Tokenization
Stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization are viewed as key growth areas for BNB’s ecosystem. While mainstream stablecoins like USDT and USDC are already native on BNB Chain, Zhao believes there is room for innovative projects to expand and compete.

Additionally, tokenization of real-world assets is seen as an inevitable trend, starting with financial instruments suitable for digital trading. BNB Chain has made initial progress in the RWA (Real-World Assets) sector, attracting institutions like Securitize, VanEck, and Ondo Finance to use it as a platform for tokenized securities issuance.

Technical Roadmap and Development Vision
From a technical perspective, BNB Chain’s roadmap includes the next-generation Layer 1 blockchain, aiming for sub-150 millisecond finality and over 20,000 TPS to support more complex transactions and applications.

Furthermore, BNB Chain plans to launch ZK-rollups by 2026 to further enhance throughput and privacy. Long-term, the ecosystem aims to support 10,000 DApps and attract 500 million users, aspiring to become the global standard for decentralized applications and digital assets.

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BNB’s story is one of continuous evolution beyond expectations—transforming from an exchange’s utility token to an independent public chain’s core asset; from a simple trading discount tool to the cornerstone supporting DeFi, NFTs, and on-chain applications worth hundreds of billions. Its uniqueness lies in a clever balance between efficient centralized origins and a broad decentralized future vision.