This article takes 'Empire's Return' as the main line, tracing the rise and fall of BNB Chain, allowing you to feel the past, present, and future of BNB CHAIN!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
0. Preface
In the swirling winds of the blockchain world, there once was a chain that embraced the most complex trends of the era in an extremely simple way. It may not be the most advanced, may not be the most elegant, and was even seen as a 'hotbed for speculators', but it single-handedly supported the prosperity of an era.
This chain is called BNB Chain.
Now, as the focus of traffic shifts to public chains like L2, Solana, and Sui, BSC quietly restarts its strategy, and Binance also shifts its course, heavily investing in ecological reconstruction. Is this a high-stakes gamble or a rebirth of old roots?
In this act of 'Empire's Return', what we see is not only the update of the chain, but also a multi-faceted confrontation of faith, strategy, and destiny.
I. Empire Creation: From Binance Chain to the Rise of the Grassroots
'The Yangtze River flows east, washing away all.'
1. Binance Chain
In April 2019, Binance launched Binance Chain, but this was a 'non-smart chain'—its goal was to support Binance DEX, focusing on transfer speed and stability, without supporting smart contracts, let alone ecological construction. At that time, this was merely a 'supplementary chain' in the Binance system, with no one considering it a true rival to Ethereum.
2. BSC (Binance Smart Chain)
However, in September 2020, everything turned around. BSC (Binance Smart Chain) emerged.
This is an EVM-compatible chain, with low Gas fees, fast block times, and low deployment thresholds. But what truly brought it onto the historical stage are two weapons: Binance's resource integration capabilities and the narrative dividends of the era.
BSC has certain innovations in its consensus algorithm, adopting the PoSA (Proof of Stake Authority) consensus algorithm, which combines the functions of Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) and Proof of Authority (PoA) mechanisms, established on a network of 21 validator nodes, with a second-level block time that can establish a high-speed infrastructure for DeFi protocols. As of now, the BNB Smart Chain has 50 validators.
3. BNB Chain
In February 2022, BNB Chain was officially launched, merging the BNB Beacon Chain (formerly Binance Chain) and BNB Smart Chain (formerly Binance Smart Chain). The BNB Beacon Chain focuses on governance (staking and voting), while the BNB Smart Chain continues to serve as the infrastructure for building a vast DApp ecosystem.
4. opBNB
opBNB is a Layer 2 scaling solution aimed at enhancing the performance of the BNB Smart Chain using the Optimism OP Stack. This solution provides high throughput, low transaction fees, and extremely high transaction processing efficiency, suitable for large-scale Web3 applications.
Its scalability surpasses the limitations of Layer 1, with a transaction processing volume (TPS) exceeding 4,000 transactions per second.
The average gas fee for opBNB is as low as $0.001, providing high throughput and cost-effective transactions, significantly enhancing user experience.
5. BNB Greenfield
BNB Greenfield is a decentralized storage and blockchain storage solution aimed at leveraging decentralized technology in the realms of data ownership and data economy. Its main features include: native cross-chain programmability, EVM-compatible storage, high-speed decentralized storage, and seamless migration from Web 2.0.
6. BNB
BNB (Binance Coin) represents 'Build and Build'. Besides providing fuel for transactions on the BNB chain (similar to Gas on Ethereum), BNB also acts as a governance token. Holding BNB grants the right to express opinions and is a necessary condition for participating in the decentralized on-chain governance of the BNB chain.
7. MVB (Most Valuable Builder) Program
In February 2021, Binance announced the launch of the Most Valuable Builder (MVB) program under a $100 million DeFi seed fund to connect the fields of DeFi and CeFi. The main goal of this program is to assist high-quality startup projects on the Binance Smart Chain in achieving more innovative transformations, gaining mature industry experience and financial support, and accelerating the collaborative development of the community and projects.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
That year was the first year of #DeFi. SushiSwap, Yearn, and Curve were on fire on Ethereum. However, due to skyrocketing fees and severe congestion, Ethereum was becoming a 'hell' for developers. Against this backdrop, BSC took on the first wave of developers 'fleeing from Ethereum'.
Subsequently, the 'Chain Game + Meme' dual wheel drive: CryptoBlades, PancakeSwap, Safemoon, BabyDoge, in a moment of blooming flowers, TVL surged, and daily active users soared.
At the same time, competitors like OKT Chain, HECO Chain, TRON Chain, and Polygon emerged, but apart from Polygon (which successfully transformed later), most have vanished. BSC, using the three strategies of 'affordable, efficient, and traffic-bearing', ultimately survived into the next era.
II. The Throne Tilts: From the Peak of Traffic to Marginal Silence
1. The Peak Scroll: A Glorious Presentation
In May 2021, the total locked value of BSC's DeFi once surpassed $20 billion, second only to Ethereum among all public chains.
Daily active addresses exceeded 2 million, and PancakeSwap's 24-hour trading volume was ranked first across the network for several months.
Safemoon, BabyDoge, and other memes drove the on-chain community frenzy, attracting a large number of retail users to 'mint coins' and 'mine'.
2. Sudden Change in Traffic: The Siphon Effect of Solana and L2
Solana's 'Retail Magnet':
Since Q4 2024, daily active addresses on Solana have been climbing, reaching an average of about 1.7 million on May 7, 2025, matching BSC in terms of activity for the first time.
The extremely low threshold of the Pump.fun meme on-chain issuance model has attracted creators from Telegram and TikTok, driving millions of long-tail wallets to become active.
L2 is Blooming:
Over 60 Ethereum L2s like Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Mantle, and Scroll are developing in parallel, which on one hand reconstructs the EVM security narrative, while on the other hand, it also fragments the developers, TVL, and users.
Concerned about 'liquidity fragmentation', several researchers pointed out in Cointelegraph columns that while the surge in L2 numbers indicates ecological prosperity, it also directly reduces the stickiness to a single L1.
3. The Marginal Silence of BSC: Innovation and Regulation
TVL and Revenue:
As of June 6, 2025, BSC's TVL is about $5.9 billion, only one-third of its peak.
In the past year, BNB Chain's TVL shrank by 11% within 30 days, and weekly trading volume of DApps decreased by 25%.
Innovation and Business Card:
When Solana repackages the 'retail wealth creation story' with high performance and memes, while Ethereum L2 attracts developers with security and modularity, BSC seems to lack its own phenomenal identity.
Regulatory and Brand Pressure:
Binance CEX faced a series of global regulatory blows, CZ passed the baton to Richard Teng, and the BSC ecosystem came under pressure from public opinion, with developers and funds gradually moving to compliant-friendly or new narrative chains.
'Prosperity without defense, decline without death, this is the norm of empires.'
BSC, since the DeFi boom of 2021, surged to become the second largest locked chain globally, and then, in contrast to the 'retail magnet' effect of Solana and the blooming of Ethereum L2 between 2024 and 2025, it portrays the multiple shadows of its declining TVL, reduced daily active users, a vacuum in brand narrative, and the intertwining of regulatory gloom. The rise and fall, fall and wait for revival, is the norm of empires—this sets the stage for the subsequent 'reignition'.
III. The Dynasty Rises Again: Can BSC Become the Focus of New Order?
'Transporting heroes is not free; when the time comes, heaven and earth work together.'
1. Confidence Rebuilt: CZ's Return and Construction!
On September 28, 2024, CZ was released, @CZ and Big Brother returned. After being released, Zhao Changpeng posted his first tweet within four months, simply saying 'gm' to greet the cryptocurrency community.
After that, Big Brother and Sister interacted actively on X, igniting community enthusiasm. For example, CZ retweeted community user Mubarak's meme post, while Sister acted as Binance's number one customer service, actively responding to community users. This directly drove the trading volume of meme coins to surge, with Mubarak's daily trading volume nearing $100 million.
2. Meme Reignited: The Wealth Effect of TST and MUBARAK
$TST
The origin of the matter is that on February 25, the bnb chain released the FourMeme demo video and created the TST token, followed by various clarifications and constructions from Big Brother, leading the community to jokingly refer to it as 'like the first time going to a store feeling both curious yet a bit shy', with Big Brother also expressing that he is learning, but after some twists and turns, TST directly reached the spot market, shaping the wealth effect of BNB CHAIN!
$MUBARAK
On March 12, Abu Dhabi Investment Company MGX splurged $2 billion to acquire a minority stake in Binance.
On March 13, CZ himself retweeted media news about Binance accepting MGX's investment.
On March 13, at 2:38 PM (UTC+8), Binance Chinese posted with an image of 'a cloth shaped like a head'.
On March 13, at 5:20 PM (UTC+8), CZ only sent out the word 'MUBARAK' (which means 'blessing' in Arabic) and quoted Binance Chinese's tweet, thus opening the curtain for MUBARAK!
3. Collaborative Expansion: USD1 Stablecoin Ignites New Narrative
The Strategic Position of Stablecoins is Rising:
In the post-FTX era, on-chain liquidity is increasingly concentrated in stablecoins; the U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act9 stablecoin bill by a vote of 66-32, marking a milestone progress towards the imminent establishment of the U.S. stablecoin regulatory framework.
Endorsed by the Trump family: $USD1
USD1 is a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, launched by @worldlibertyfi (WLFI) in March 2025, first minted on Ethereum (ETH) and Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and listed on Binance spot on May 23, 2025.
The introduction of USD1 not only supplements the dollar-denominated asset landscape of BSC but also provides a new value anchor for DeFi, GameFi, and Meme tracks.
'$B' Ignition Effect:
Initially, the narrative of $B was the mascot of BNBCHAIN. In May, the BUILDon project officially announced the addition of $USD1 as a core trading pair, directly linking $B with the WLFI project, transforming it into a core token tied to USD1, starting to carry USD1 liquidity.
Two days after BUILDon added the USD1 trading pair, it announced a joint trading competition with the Fourmeme platform, and in the following days, $B accounted for over 50% of the trading volume across the chain, becoming the main liquidity pool for USD1.
Subsequent favorable releases like BUILDon launching on Binance Alpha and WLFI announcing the purchase of $B directly propelled its market value to rise, reaching a maximum FDV of $460 million, further igniting the sentiment around BSC.
4. BinanceAlpha Sector: The 'New Listing' Flywheel Under Liquidity Dilemma
Background Dilemma:
Between 2024 and 2025, many projects once listed on Binance spot often 'open high and go low', becoming the endpoint of institutional and early round liquidity exit, hurting retail confidence, sharply reducing secondary trading volume on the platform, and continuous FUD from community users.
The Arrival of the Alpha Sector:
On December 17, 2024, Binance Wallet launched Binance Alpha, aimed at discovering emerging crypto projects, providing users with an entrance to early projects shaping the future of the crypto ecosystem. The launch of Binance Alpha, by entering earlier and lower market cap projects, not only lifted the stricter standards of Binance's spot trading but also provided more choices for community users with higher risk tolerance and project parties desperate to list on Binance.
AlphaPoints Mechanism:
On April 25, 2025, Binance launched the #AlphaPoint rating system, initially airdropping tokens to users who had traded Alpha sector tokens, and the launch of Alpha Points ignited a frenzy of daily scoring, requiring users to meet a scoring threshold to have a chance to obtain airdrops for new Alpha projects or participate in the qualification for Binance Wallet's new listings.
The launch of Alpha Points further broadens the moat of Binance and BNB CHAIN, and this move has multiple effects:
Firstly, it opened new channels:
Given the early visible benefits, from 18-year-old college students to 90-year-old grandmothers, community users mobilized their extended families to brush Alpha together, seemingly becoming a new revenue channel during the current liquidity recession, with community users daily asking: 'Did you Alpha today?', reflecting the effectiveness of Alpha in attracting new users.
Secondly, it has increased trading volume:
The demand for scoring directly raises DEX trading volume and on-chain Gas consumption, particularly during BNB CHAIN's trading volume, as scoring Alpha points only doubles the trading volume on BSC.
Third, competitive platform suppression:
By locking in community user traffic with AlphaPoints, it weakens the siphoning effect of competitors like pump.fun and other trading platforms on retail investors.
IV. Under the Bet, Who Holds the Control?
'Everything can be distributed, sovereignty ultimately belongs to the user.'
In the past two years, regulatory pressure and black swan events have repeatedly reminded the market:
Decentralization is not just a slogan; it is the fundamental value of blockchain existence.
CZ stated in a lengthy post on October 9, 2022—Centralization vs. Decentralization (2022):
Decentralization is not binary, nor is it one-dimensional. Decentralization encompasses multiple aspects. Each aspect is a gradient scale, not simply black and white.
It is equally important to remember that decentralization is a means to achieve goals, not the goal itself. The goals are freedom, security, and ease of use.
'Not your keys, not your coins'. Why decentralization?
Because we do not want a few centralized entities to have unlimited power over us, charging us exorbitant fees, controlling how we spend our after-tax money, etc. We want to empower people with authority, control, and freedom.
1. The Rise of Decentralization: Wallet is Sovereignty
Web3 Wallet & WalletTGE:
The new version of the wallet integrates cross-chain bridges, TGE Launchpad, and ZK identity modules, striving to put 'entry - application - assets' all back on the chain.
AlphaPoints × Self-Custody:
Point accumulation can be completed on-chain, guiding users to proactively learn signature and private key management.
2. AI Empowerment: The Second Growth Curve of BNBChain
According to the official (BNBChain Technical Roadmap 2025) blog, AI has been listed as one of the three key directions for the future, with core focal points including a complete closed loop of 'data → computing power → applications → tools'.
Currently, AI applications on BNB Chain are developing across multiple industries, including:
AI Agent Platforms and Launch Platforms: Myshell, Eliza, Revox
AI-Driven Games: World of Dypians, Xterio, SERAPH: In the Darkness
AI-Driven Decentralized Social Networks: Tako, Jam.AI
AI-Driven Decentralized Finance: Termix, Anon
3. Bet Deployment: Four Lines Interwoven into a Network
Emotion—$MUBARAK and Meme Tooling, attracting user attention;
Value—USD1 being deeply tied to BNB Chain, supplementing the depth of stablecoins;
Incentives—MVB + AlphaPoints + opBNBGas refunds, stabilizing developers;
Entry—Web3 Wallet + WalletTGE, expanding on-chain traffic;
Once the four lines converge, combined with hard technologies like AIHub and Greenfieldv2, BSC may strive for a position as 'the AI-native traffic portal of the multi-chain era'.
V. The Clouds Hang High, Where is the Return Path?
In the triple whirlpool of 'decentralization × AI × high liquidity', BSC is trying to write a new chapter of the empire with USD1 revitalization, AlphaPoints wave creation, and AIHub future layout.
Binance's empire chooses to return to its most familiar territory, igniting a new fire.
This bet is on:
Does the echo of faith still exist? Can the clamor of the grassroots rise again? Can the engine of narrative still operate?
If you still remember the moment you first used PancakeSwap,
If you have ever felt the warmth of 'convenience, speed, and a sense of fireworks' in on-chain trading,
Perhaps you will see a glimmer of the old dream reigniting in this return of BSC.
History is loading, waiting for that moment of 'confirmation on the chain.'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Links:
What is the difference between Binance and bnb-chain?
Introduction to BNB Chain: Evolution of Binance Smart Chain
Binance launches the Most Valuable Builder (MVB) Accelerator Program
BNBChain Blog: https://www.bnbchain.org/zh-CN/blog
BNBChain Official Website: https://www.bnbchain.org/zh-CN
