Overview
BNB is the token of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and of BNB Chain, the blockchain built around it. It launched in 2017 as “Binance Coin”, sold to raise money for the new exchange, and was originally used mainly for trading-fee discounts.
Today BNB is one of the five largest cryptocurrencies, worth about $98 billion, and has many more uses: it pays for transactions on BNB Chain, unlocks perks on Binance, and is held as a long-term asset by investors and even listed companies.
Binance was founded by Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”), who stepped down as CEO in 2023 after Binance pleaded guilty to US anti-money-laundering violations and agreed to pay over $4 billion. CZ served four months in prison and was pardoned by President Trump in October 2025.
How it works
BNB Chain (originally Binance Smart Chain) is a blockchain compatible with Ethereum: the same apps, code and wallets, such as MetaMask, work on it. It is fast, with blocks in under a second after upgrades in 2025, and transactions usually cost a few cents or less.
The trade-off is decentralization. BNB Chain is secured by a small set of validators, a few dozen chosen by how much BNB is staked with them. That makes it fast and cheap but much easier to influence than Bitcoin or Ethereum. Binance’s close involvement means many users see it as a “company chain”.
Around it sit opBNB, a cheaper Layer 2 network, and BNB Greenfield, a storage network.
What BNB is used for
- On Binance: lower trading fees, access to Launchpool and HODLer airdrops (free new tokens for people holding BNB), and other perks.
- On BNB Chain: paying gas fees and staking to secure the network.
- Across crypto: used in DeFi apps, accepted by some payment services, and held by investors and companies. In 2025, the listed company CEA Industries began building a large BNB treasury.
The BNB token and burns
| BNB at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Supply (Oct 2026) | about 131.5 million BNB |
| Supply target | 100 million BNB |
| Price (21 Oct 2026) | about $743 |
| All-time high | about $1,370 (October 2025) |
| Market cap | about $98 billion (#4) |
BNB started with 200 million tokens and no new BNB is created. Instead, BNB Chain burns BNB every quarter: tokens are permanently destroyed, using a formula based on BNB’s price and the number of blocks produced, until only 100 million remain. The 37th burn, in October 2026, destroyed about 1.65 million BNB, worth roughly $1.2 billion. A small part of every gas fee is also burned.
A shrinking supply supports the price over the long term, as long as demand holds up.
Security and reliability
BNB Chain itself has run reliably for years. Its weak points have been:
- Bridge hack. In October 2022, a bug in a BNB Chain bridge let an attacker mint about 2 million BNB. Validators halted the chain for several hours to stop the damage, which limited losses but showed how centralized the network is.
- Scams and rug pulls. Because launching a token on BNB Chain is cheap and easy, it has hosted many low-quality projects, meme coins and scams. Always research before buying a small token.
- Binance risk. BNB’s value depends heavily on Binance. A major legal action, hack or loss of trust in the exchange would likely hit BNB hard.
Money deposited in DeFi apps on BNB Chain stood at about $5.8 billion in October 2026, according to DeFiLlama, making it one of the largest DeFi ecosystems.
BNB vs. the competition
| BNB | OKB | Ethereum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launched | 2017 | 2019 | 2015 |
| Linked to | Binance | OKX | No company |
| Supply | Shrinking toward 100 million | Fixed at 21 million | No cap, low issuance |
| Blockchain | BNB Chain | X Layer | Ethereum |
| Decentralization | Low | Low | High |
OKB is the closest rival among exchange tokens. Ethereum is far more decentralized but more expensive on its main network. BNB’s edge is the sheer size of Binance and the everyday activity on BNB Chain.
Our verdict
BNB is one of the most practical tokens in crypto: it has real uses, a supply that keeps shrinking, and one of the busiest blockchains behind it. As long as Binance keeps growing, BNB has strong support.
The main risk is concentration. BNB’s fortunes are tied to one company and its founder, and BNB Chain is run by a small group of validators. If you buy BNB, you are partly betting on Binance itself. Invest only what you can afford to lose, and consider holding it in a wallet you control rather than only on the exchange.
This review is for information only and is not financial advice.