Binance Coin (BNB) serves as the native token for Binance Smart Chain (BEP-20) and Binance Chain (BEP-2). It was first launched in 2017 on the Ethereum blockchain, and today it powers all activities across the Binance ecosystem. BNB originally went live through an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017, during which half of BNB’s fixed maximum supply of 200 million tokens was made available to the public. The remaining portion was shared among angel investors and founding members.

BNB began as a utility token designed to provide reduced trading fees, but its role has since grown into many additional uses, both inside and outside the Binance ecosystem.

What are BNB key features and how does it work?

Because the Binance ecosystem runs on BNB, it functions as the native asset for both Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain (BSC). These two chains run side by side, and thanks to their related design, they can communicate with each other at the native level. 

Binance Chain is built with a straightforward purpose for its applications: enabling quick trading and handling large volumes of traffic. The most widely used DApp on Binance Chain is Binance DEX. BSC builds on that foundation by allowing smart contracts and more sophisticated DApps. 

Binance Smart Chain was formed as a hard fork of the Go Etheruem (Geth) protocol, so the two networks share many similarities, and BSC remains compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Its goal is to deliver faster and less expensive transactions. It achieves this with a different consensus approach: Ethereum’s Proof of Work (PoW) resembles Bitcoin’s, while BSC uses Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA).

To help support BNB’s value, Binance conducts periodic token burning. Every quarter, Binance allocates 20% of its profits to repurchase and then burn BNB, so the tokens are permanently removed. These burns will continue until 50% of the initial supply is reached, bringing the total to 100 million. By making BNB finite and scarce, this mechanism is intended to help sustain its value.

What can Binance Coin be used for?

Initially designed to function as a utility token for discounted trading fees, Binance Coin now supports a wide set of applications. These include:

covering transaction fees on Binance.com, Binance DEX, and Binance Chain;

Where can you buy BNB?

Binance Coin can be purchased directly on the Binance exchange, where it is available with many trading pairs involving BNB. The original exchange is also where BNB typically has the best trading rates.

BNB is also available on the CEXs and DEXs shown in the market tab.