BNB is the token tied to Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges. It started as a way to pay fees on the exchange at a discount, and that remains a core use. Holders who pay trading fees in BNB get a reduction, which gave the token a clear use from the start. Its role later grew, and today it also serves as the gas token for transactions on its own blockchain.
The token launched in July 2017 under the name Binance Coin. Binance, founded by Changpeng Zhao, sold it through an initial coin offering, a crowd sale of tokens, that raised about $15 million to help fund the launch of the exchange. The supply was set at 200 million BNB at issuance. The token was later renamed simply BNB.
BNB is the native token of BNB Chain, which began as Binance Smart Chain when it launched in September 2020 and was renamed in February 2022. The chain runs smart contracts and decentralized apps and is compatible with tooling built for Ethereum, so developers can move projects across without much friction. Transactions on the chain are confirmed under a proof-of-stake model, where validators put up tokens to help secure the network rather than mining with computing power. BNB pays the network fees for activity on the chain.
A defining trait of BNB is that its supply shrinks over time. Binance runs periodic token burns, sending a portion of BNB to an address no one can spend from, which permanently removes those tokens from circulation. The starting supply of 200 million falls step by step through this process, which makes BNB deflationary by design rather than fixed or growing.
In the broader market, BNB sits in the category of exchange tokens, assets whose value and use are linked to a specific platform rather than to a standalone payment network or a neutral smart-contract chain. Its fortunes track both the exchange that issued it and the activity on its own blockchain. That dual role, fee token on the exchange and gas token on the chain, has kept it among the most widely held cryptocurrencies, while also tying it closely to the standing of Binance itself.