How Binance and BNB Chain Are Related

While it is easy to conflate Binance with BNB Chain, they are separate entities and do not have the same relationship as, for example, the Ethereum Foundation and Ethereum.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance launched BNB Chain in February 2022, consisting of BNB Beacon Chain (previously Binance Chain) and BNB Smart Chain (previously Binance Smart Chain).

Recently, Binance published a blog clarifying the distinctions between the company and the blockchain:

"Above all else, Binance is but a part of the BNB ecosystem, rather than the other way around."

Below we will highlight the main characteristics and differences between the two influential blockchain entities.

Binance Exchange

• Binance is a Centralized Exchange launched by Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and Yi He in 2017.
• Zhao has served as its CEO since launch.
• Binance has become by far the world’s largest crypto exchange according to metrics such as trading volume, traffic, users and more.
• The exchange also has an American counterpart, Binance.US, that is under independent management.

BNB Chain

• Binance launched Binance Chain in April 2019, switching over the BNB utility token from Ethereum (where it had launched in 2017).
• Smart contract-compatible Binance Smart Chain was launched in September 2020.
• In February 2022, BNB Chain was launched, combining and renaming the two chains.
• BNB Chain is the most popular blockchain, with 4 million daily transactions, more than 200 million unique addresses and nearly 1.4 million contracts, according to information from BSCScan and Solidus Labs.

Differences

Here are the key differences between Binance and BNB Chain:

• Binance is a crypto exchange, while BNB Chain is a decentralized blockchain network.
• Binance is the parent company that came up with the idea of developing the BNB Chain.
• Binance is a centralized company, while BNB Chain is a decentralized blockchain on its way to 41 validators.
• BNB is the native token of both Binance and BNB Chain, but it runs on BNB Chain.