Binance is considered to be one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world by volume. It was launched in 2017 and founded by Changpeng Zhao, currently CEO, and He Yi, currently chief marketing officer. Later in 2017 Binance introduced a native token — Binance Coin (BEP2).
Initially, BNB BEP2 started out as an ERC-20 token, based on the Ethereum blockchain, but soon switched to a custom network called Binance Chain. The total number of BNB BEP2 is constantly decreasing due to regular burn events and, as of October 2021, there have been 17 of the said events. The Binance Chain deploys the Byzantine-Fault-Tolerant (BFT) consensus mechanism. Such a mechanism allows a blockchain to form consensus even if some nodes fail, including due to hacking and malicious attacks. However, it can only function with ⅓ failures taking place.
BNB BEP2 is primarily used for paying trading fees on the Binance Exchange platform and can also be used to take part in token sales on the Binance Launchpad. Still, the token has its market-determined value, and many vendors or exchanges like ChangeNOW accept BNB as a viable asset. According to Binance’s website, Binance Coin is also widely used for “travel expenses, payment of goods, for lending, for rewards, to create smart contracts, and for other transactions.”