Binance Coin is the crypto issued by cryptocurrency exchange Binance and trades with the BNB symbol. Binance is currently the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, supporting more than 1.4 million transactions per second.
Binance coin initially ran on the Ethereum blockchain with ERC-20 standard but has since become the native coin of the Binance chain. It was launched during an initial coin offering (ICO) in July 2017 and has a strict maximum of 200 million BNB tokens. It offered 10%, or 20 million, BNB tokens to angel investors, 40%, or 80 million, tokens to the founding team, and the remaining 50%, or 100 million, to the various participants through the ICO process.
Almost half the funds raised during the ICO process were intended to be used for Binance branding and marketing, while around one-third were used to build the Binance platform and perform necessary upgrades to the Binance ecosystem.
BNB was initially based on the Ethereum network but is now the native currency of Binance’s own blockchain, the Binance chain.
Binance was created as a utility token for discounted trading fees in 2017. But since then, its uses have expanded to numerous applications on a wide number of platforms. It is used to pay for transaction fees on Binance.com, Binance DEX, and Binance Chain.
It can also be used for payments (at places like Crypto.com, Monetha, and HTC); to book travel accommodations (at sites such as TravelbyBit, Trip.io, and Travala.com); for entertainment purposes (virtual gifts, card packs, lotteries); to pay for online services (BitTorrent, Canva, Storm); and even for financial purposes (take out a loan at ETHLend or make investments at Moeda).
One can also use Binance coins to invest in certain ICOs that are listed through Binance’s Launchpad program. New cryptocurrencies list on the Binance exchange, and the use of Binance provides a seamless marketplace for trading in a variety of established and new virtual tokens.
The crypto token has garnered support from other partnerships which has helped its usage spread. It includes a partnership with Asia’s premier high-end live video streaming platform, Uplive, which sells virtual gifts for BNB tokens to Uplive’s 20 million-strong user base.
Binance coin is also supported by the platform, the mobile app, and the VISA debit card of Monaco, the pioneering payments and cryptocurrency platform.
Source: Investopedia
