What is BNB (BNB)?
Binance introduced BNB in 2017 as an exchange token sold in an initial coin offering, originally built on Ethereum. It later migrated to Binance's own blockchains and is now the gas token of BNB Smart Chain, an EVM-compatible network that launched in 2020.
- Type
- Layer-1 blockchain (EVM-compatible)
- Launched
- 2017
- Consensus
- Proof of Staked Authority
- Max supply
- Being reduced toward a target of 100 million BNB
- Swap network
- BNB Chain
- Sector (Messari)
- Smart Contract Platform
How BNB works
BNB Smart Chain runs on Proof of Staked Authority, where a limited set of validators chosen by BNB stake take turns producing blocks. Because it is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, the same wallets, tooling and smart contracts used on Ethereum work on the chain.
What BNB is used for
BNB pays transaction fees on BNB Smart Chain and can be staked with validators. It is also used within the Binance ecosystem for trading fee discounts and as a common asset in DeFi applications built on the chain.
BNB supply
BNB started with a supply of 200 million tokens and is steadily reduced through a quarterly auto-burn and a real-time burn of part of the gas fees. The stated long-term goal is to shrink the total supply to 100 million BNB.
Before you swap BNB
BNB Smart Chain uses the same 0x address format as Ethereum, so double-check that you are receiving native BNB on BSC and not a wrapped BNB token on another network. Keep a small BNB balance to pay gas for later transactions.