According to Zhao, the main reason for the BNB rally was the pro-cryptocurrency position of Donald Trump's administration. A more favorable attitude from politicians towards cryptocurrencies in the United States prompted other countries to ease oversight of digital assets.
Zhao also noted that at the beginning of the year, meme coins began to return to the BNB Chain network. The founder of Binance acknowledged that his inexperience slowed the development of this network and even caused a split within the community. However, thanks to meme coins, he learned about the negative impact of MEV attacks. Validators, wallets, decentralized exchanges, and other participants of the BNB Chain actively worked on addressing these issues, Zhao noted.
Another reason for the coin's growth is the updates to BNB Chain, which reduced block time from 3 seconds to 1.5 seconds, and later to 0.75 seconds, Zhao specified. He noted the decrease in transaction fees on BNB Chain and a sharp increase in trade volume, which also supports the dynamics of the BNB rate. Zhao mentioned the second version of the platform for crypto startups - Binance Alpha, which, according to him, simplified their transition from decentralized finance (DeFi) to centralized platforms (CeFi). Zhao himself did not participate in the development of Alpha.
Zhao particularly highlighted the listing of the USD1 stablecoin from Donald Trump's family platform, World Liberty Financial. This increased the liquidity of stablecoins on the blockchain. The previous native stablecoin BUSD was shut down in 2023 by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), shortly before the closure of Silvergate, Signature, and Silicon Valley Bank. Therefore, the USD1 stablecoin filled this gap, Zhao wrote.
In addition, projects focused on the tokenization of real assets (RWA) and projects specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) began to be used on BNB Chain. Zhao also noted the BNB coin burning program. Just in the last quarter, BNB Chain removed BNB worth $1.6 billion from circulation. The founder of Binance is confident that these coins are better spent not on marketing but rather burned, as their destruction will reduce the supply of BNB and contribute to the growth of the crypto asset.
The decision of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to withdraw the lawsuit against Binance also played its role, dispelling concerns that BNB could be considered an unregistered security. Zhao did not overlook major investors buying BNB for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Another factor that influenced the growth of BNB was Binance's negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the easing of oversight requirements for the cryptocurrency exchange and the use of alternative reporting mechanisms without the presence of an external auditor.
