What is BNB Chain?

• The BNB chain is an open source network supported by a community of users, validators, and developers.

• The BNB chain is subdivided into two chains: The BNB Beacon Chain, which controls governance, and the BNB Smart Chain, which runs the consensus layers and provides EVM compatibility.

• BNB is used as the chain’s native token. Binance sets out to put BNB in the hands of every user in the future so that it becomes the ultimate utility token.

Those familiar with Binance may associate the BNB chain with Binance, the centralized exchange platform. But, the BNB chain is much bigger and decentralized than Binance itself. The BNB chain is an open-source, decentralized network that is supported and maintained by a community of users, developers, validators, and delegators. The BNB chain is divided into two sub chains that work in tandem: The BNB Beacon chain, which overlooks governance, and the BNB Smart Chain, which operates the consensus layers, with hubs to multi-chains. The Smart Chain is also EVM compatible, which allows Ethereum developers to migrate their Ethereum smart contracts to the BNB Smart Chain without needing to write the code from scratch. This interoperability allows developers migrating from Ethereum, to deploy their dApps faster on the BNB blockchain.

The BNB token was initially created as an ERC-20 token when it was first created alongside Binance in 2017. However, as Binance developed its Smart Chain in 2020, the BNB token developed into a native token for the BNB chain. On top of its use as the ecosystem token for the BNB chain, the BNB token is also used for transaction fees, staking, and asset transfers.

The BNB Smart Chain was built to provide a scalable solution for users, a pain point that Ethereum had been struggling with. The BNB chain’s offers of lower fees and faster transactions while providing Ethereum compatibility has made it a strong contender against Ethereum. The BNB Smart Chain boasts 3-second block times by using a delegated Proof of Stake (PoS) and Proof of Authority (PoA) to maintain network consensus and blockchain security. Through this mechanism, participants must stake BNB to become validators and get rewarded with transaction fees.

The Binance team continues to increase the utility of BNB and advance the BNB chain as a scalable solution. Learn how you can stake BNB.