Summary

  • BNB Chain is a decentralized blockchain ecosystem focused on providing a powerful infrastructure for the Web3 economy.

  • BNB Chain provides a variety of services aimed at promoting decentralized data management and Layer 2 expansion, as well as providing innovative solutions for the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

  • This article will explore the evolution of BNB Chain since its launch in 2017, which has demonstrated its strong ability to adapt and innovate.

Introduction

BNB Chain is a decentralized blockchain ecosystem focused on Web3 economy, infrastructure and services. It provides a range of advanced tools and features for users to explore the field of decentralized finance (DeFi) and developers to create large-scale decentralized applications (DApps).

A brief history of BNB Chain development

BNB Chain (formerly Binance Chain) was created in 2019. At that time, the utility token BNB, which was launched in 2017, was migrated from the Ethereum network to BNB Chain and became the native token of the network. The predecessor of BNB Chain is what we now call BNB Beacon Chain.

In 2020, BNB Smart Chain (BSC) (formerly Binance Smart Chain) was launched as a new blockchain parallel to the BNB Beacon Chain. BSC introduces new features and increased flexibility using EVM-compatible smart contracts, facilitating explosive growth in DApps and services.

Comparison between BNB Beacon Chain and BNB Smart Chain

In 2022, both the BNB Beacon Chain and the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) were integrated into the BNB Chain ecosystem. However, the two blockchains continue to operate independently and serve different purposes.

  • BNB Beacon Chain: Serves as a governance layer for staking and voting, using the BEP-2 token standard.

  • BNB Smart Chain (BSC): Serves as an EVM compatibility layer, providing DApps, DeFi services, consensus layer, multi-chain support, and other Web3 applications. BSC adopts BEP-20 as the main token standard.

Since then, the BNB Chain ecosystem has launched more products such as BNB Greenfield and opBNB Layer 2 solutions, which will be introduced in detail below.

Binance does not own or control BNB Chain

Binance has no control over BNB Chain, which may confuse some people because BNB Chain was formerly known as Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain. Some people mistakenly believe that BNB Chain is another product of Binance, but this is not the case. BNB Chain is decentralized.

Binance's centralized structure mainly serves the Web3 field. Although the concept of BNB Chain was originally proposed by Binance and is still supported by Binance, Binance is committed to making the chain a decentralized independent network. BNB Chain operates in a community-led manner, and anyone can become a network validator by staking BNB.

BNB Chain Integration

In December 2023, the BNB Chain team announced that it would shut down the BNB beacon chain, and the functions of the chain would be migrated to the BNB smart chain network.

“[...] we will make a strategic shift to migrate the functionality of the Beacon Chain to BSC and shut down the Beacon Chain. This move is intended to simplify the BNB Chain network, improve efficiency, and reduce security risks, so that the BNB Chain architecture can adapt to current technical needs and future growth.” — BNB Chain blog.

The migration is expected to be carried out in multiple phases, starting in April 2024 and ending in June of the same year. For more details, please refer to the BNB Chain Integration Roadmap.

At this point, I believe you have fully understood the creation process and development direction of BNB Chain. Next, we will explore how BNB Chain works and its key products and features. Please note that the information provided in this article may change, especially after the upcoming BNB Chain integration implementation.

BNB Chain Scaling Solutions and Decentralized Storage

Since its launch, BNB Chain has expanded into a multi-chain framework that now includes a variety of services, such as Layer 2scaling solution opBNB and decentralized storage chain BNB Greenfield.

opBNB

opBNB is a Layer 2 scaling solution that aims to enhance the performance of the BNB Smart Chain using the Optimism OP Stack. The solution provides high throughput, low transaction fees, and extremely high transaction processing efficiency, making it suitable for large-scale Web3 applications.

  • Scalability: opBNB is a Layer 2 scaling solution that reduces the transaction processing and resource usage burden of the BNB Smart Chain. Its scalability exceeds the limitations of Layer 1 and can process more than 4,000 transactions per second (TPS).

  • Gas Fee Efficiency: opBNB’s average gas fee is as low as $0.001, providing high throughput and cost-effective transactions, which can greatly improve the user experience.

BNB Greenfield

The BNB Greenfield ecosystem consists of a storage-centric blockchain, BNB Greenfield, and a decentralized storage provider (SP) network.

BNB Greenfield is a blockchain network layer built on the Cosmos/Tendermint infrastructure. The blockchain uses the Tendermint consensus mechanism and adopts a Proof of Stake approach to ensure network security. Validators play a vital role in reaching consensus and participating in network governance.

SP is an infrastructure provided by an organization or individual responsible for responding to user requests to upload and download data. SP acts as a gatekeeper for user permissions and identity authentication.

Users submit data storage requests on Greenfield, and storage providers (SPs) are responsible for maintaining off-chain data. To ensure the integrity of stored data, users can perform challenge proof verification on BNB Greenfield.

Developers can build DApps on the BNB Greenfield platform and connect to BNB Chain, laying the foundation for a new data economy in the Web3 era.

Conclusion

Since its launch in 2017, BNB Chain has undergone a series of major transformations, from the early BNB Chain to today's massive DeFi ecosystem that includes thousands of services, products, DApps, and decentralized organizations. As a strong force in the Web3 field, BNB Chain provides users, developers, and enterprises with a powerful platform for innovation and growth.

Further reading

Disclaimer: This article is provided "as is" for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute any representation or warranty. This article does not constitute financial, legal, or other professional advice and is not intended to be a recommendation to purchase any specific product or service. You should seek advice from appropriate professional advisors. If this article is contributed by a third party, please note that the opinions expressed herein are those of the third-party contributor and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Binance Academy. For more information, please click here to read the full disclaimer. Cryptocurrency prices may fluctuate. The value of your investment may go down or up, and you may not get back the money you invest. You are solely responsible for your investment decisions and Binance Academy is not responsible for any losses you may incur. This article does not constitute financial, legal, or other professional advice. For more information, please refer to our Terms of Use and Risk Warning.