Binance Rebrands Binance Smart Chain, Now Called BNB Chain
- The BNB Chain will be made up of two parts, the BNB Beacon Chain and BNB Smart Chain, and will have the goal of pushing the BNB ecosystem even further.
- Binance also introduced a new concept, MetaFi, that is meant to become an “all-encompassing ecosystem” that enables interoperability between projects and blockchains.
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Binance has decided to unite its Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) under a new name, BNB Chain, in order to push the BNB ecosystem even further, the exchange said in a blog post on 15 February.
According to the announcement, the rebranding was done in an effort to draw more attention to the BNB token, which will no longer stand for Binance Coin but rather for “Build and Build“. The BNB Chain will not only introduce new advanced capabilities, but also work on developing the “tools and network to support mass transfers of data and assets”. The company said in its blog post:
“The birth of the BNB Chain marks a significant milestone in the evolution of both the BNB utility token and the Binance Chain and BSC networks. It kickstarts a new era of more user-friendly and performance-focused blockchain applications that will serve the masses and provide organizations and businesses with the infrastructure required to migrate to blockchain and into the Web3.”
The newly named network will be made up of two parts. The BNB Beacon Chain, previously the Binance Chain, will take over the governance part of the network and will be the place for staking and voting. The BNB Smart Chain (BSC), on the other hand, will take over the Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible multichain network. BNB Chain will also increase the number of validators on BSC from 21 to 41, with the additional validators acting as candidate block producers, in order to improve decentralization and boost scalability.
The company has also come up with a new concept, called MetaFi, which will provide different types of projects — such as metaverse, GameFi, SocialFi, Web3, and NFTs — with a sophisticated DeFi infrastructure. The goal of MetaFi is to become an “all-encompassing ecosystem” that will enable seamless interoperability between different projects and blockchains.
- The popular crypto exchange has decided to sell its business in Russia to CommEX, a crypto exchange business that was officially launched on Tuesday.
- Binance noted that it will fully exit the Russian market, and have no ongoing revenue split or any option to buy back shares in the business.
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- The company said it will be suspending its crypto-backed debit card service in the Middle East on 25 August, and in Latin America by 21 September.
- Although no reason was given for the decision, the company noted that “less than 1% of users” in those regions will be affected by the change.
- A spokesperson said the change was due to the “changing market and user needs”, and that Binance will now be refocusing its resources on its main products and long-term goals.
- Launched in March 2022, Binance Connect helped crypto businesses connect with the traditional finance system, and supported 50 cryptocurrencies and networks such as Visa and Mastercard.