Binance coin: The ultimate crypto token

From its humble beginnings as a tiny start-up, Binance is now considered one of the biggest exchanges in the world in terms of the trading volume. Now, the exchange further propelled its success by integrating its native coin, BNB. Discover more about Binance’s BNB token right here at Cryptoshimbun!

A background on Binance

Founded in 2017, Binance exchange is a cryptocurrency platform developed by Canadian-Chinese developer Changpeng Zhao and his colleague Yi He. Before the development of Binance, the two developers once worked for OKCoin and then collaborated to create Binance. The exchange’s name is a combination of the words ‘Bitcoin’ and ‘Finance’.

As one of the leading crypto exchanges today, Binance boasts 1.4 million transactions per second and supports more than 150 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA) and more.

Included in the list of top cryptocurrencies also supported by Binance is its own native token, Binance Coin which has the BNB ticker symbol.

BNB: What is it?

Binance Coin or BNB is the product of Binance’s Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in July 2017 that raised a total of US$15 million worth of funds. The token can be used to trade with other cryptocurrencies and pay fees. Initially, BNB ran on the Ethereum network before it was moved to the Binance blockchain in 2019.

During its ICO in 2017, the BNB tokens were divided among the investors that participated. Private investors or angel investors as people call it received 10% or 20 million BNB tokens. The founding team were given 40% or 80 million tokens and the remaining 50% or 100 million were distributed to various participants. Meanwhile, the remaining 100 million tokens were made available to the public and sold for 15 cents each, raising a total of US$15 million.

There’s a maximum supply of 200 million BNB tokens. Binance spends one-fifth or 20% of its revenues every quarter to repurchase and permanently destroy Binance tokens in their cold storage. With this, the price of BNB increases as its supply becomes more limited. During the first year of the BNB token, Binance offered a 50% trade discount that will gradually fall by half every succeeding year and ending in the fifth year.

How it works

One of the technologies behind BNB is the Tendermint Byzantine-fault-tolerant consensus mechanism (BFT) that uses three nodes to maintain the network. These nodes are the Validator nodes, Witness nodes and Accelerator nodes.

The Validator nodes are the ones that validate the transactions while Witness nodes serve as the ‘eyewitnesses’ that announce the transactions throughout the network. Meanwhile, the Accelerator nodes focus on verifying the transactions.

Uses of Binance Coin cryptocurrency

Binance Coin has several uses apart from being traded for other cryptocurrencies in various crypto exchange platforms. Before investing in BNB, learn about its uses below:

Pay fees on the Binance exchange – Binance Coin can be used to pay transaction fees on the Binance exchange platform. You’ll also receive a discount when you choose to pay with BNB depending on the percentage offered.

- Paying for goods and services – BNB can be used even outside of the Binance exchange to pay for goods and services across various establishments that offer BNB as a means of payment. This allows you flexibility in payment options.

Booking travel arrangements – A lot of travel agencies today are accepting BNB and other cryptocurrencies as payment for travel arrangements.

Entertainment – Crypto users can use BNB for entertainment such as playing games on online gaming sites and buying in-game features.

Loans and transfers – Some platforms allow BNB to be used as collateral for loans. You’ll also find apps that allow you to use BNB to split expenses and pay friends and relatives.

Earning salary – Gone are the days when only fiat currencies were used to pay salaries. A lot of companies these days have adopted BNB and cryptocurrencies as a means of paying their employees.

How to buy Binance Coin

Now that you know a little bit more about Binance Coin, you can start purchasing some tokens! It’s relatively easy to purchase BNB. Just follow the steps below:

Open an account

Visit the Binance website.
Click on the register tab at the top right corner.
Provide the necessary information indicated on the page.
Tick the Terms of Use and register.
Once you log in, you’ll have to set up two-factor authentication for security. purposes. The choices are either Google Authentication and SMS Authentication.
Fund your account.

Get a wallet

Since exchange platforms are online applications, they are still vulnerable to online threats like breaches. This is why it’s necessary to get a wallet to secure your BNB tokens. You can choose from several types of wallets including:

Hardware wallets – Also known as cold wallets, these are USB-type devices that have side buttons that allow you to control them. Some of the most popular types of hardware wallets are Trezor, Ledger Nano S, Atomic Wallet and more.

Software wallets – These are wallets that are accessed online using any device you have as long as you have a WiFi connection. Some of the most popular software wallets are Coinomi, Exodus and more.

Paper wallets – As its name suggests, paper wallets are a form of storage where your private keys and QR code are printed.

Desktop wallets – These wallets are desktop computer apps that can be installed and accessed using your WiFi connection. When using this wallet, it is recommended to install an AntiVirus to prevent bots from corrupting your computer.

Mobile wallets – These are installed on your mobile device, providing fast and easy access to your funds so you can make transactions anytime and anywhere.

Locate BNB address

You’ll need to find your Binance Coin address once you’ve got your wallet. It starts with 0x and has a long string of letters and digits.

Purchase BNB tokens

After setting up your account and picking your wallet, you can now purchase BNB coins. There are few options when it comes to purchasing BNB. You can either make a Market Order where you will buy BNB tokens at the current price or make a Limit Order where you will hold the trade until the price of the BNB tokens reaches a certain amount.

Start trading with Binance coin today!

Regarded as one of the most trusted crypto exchange platforms today, Binance continues to prove it’s the best in the business with its successful Binance coin. In just a short time, BNB has already made it into the list of the top cryptocurrencies in the market. With reduced fees and seamless transactions, BNB might just be the next big thing that crypto traders have been waiting for.