$BNB — good "meat". Even more: it's a cut from a farmer's slaughter.
Previously, Binance Coin was created as a utility token within the Binance exchange, but it has long outgrown its status.
Now it serves a whole range of functions:
BNB holders receive discounts on trading fees. On an exchange with billion-dollar volumes, each percentage means significant savings, thus creating real demand for the token.
Just as Ethereum operates on ETH, the entire ecosystem of dApps, DeFi, and NFT on BSC (the coin's network) "feeds" on BNB. Moreover, the network is cheap, fast, and supports EVM, which attracts developers and users. BNB is needed for gas in these transactions.
Participation in new token sales on Binance also requires BNB. And the higher the interest in new projects, the higher the demand for the token. The turnover of BNB in the cycle of new products.
BNB can still be used as collateral for margin trading, lending, and liquid pairs. It is recognized within Binance's CeFi and DeFi products, as well as on several external platforms. Not a competitor to AAVE, but it can do that too.
One of the main factors.
Binance regularly burns BNB based on trading volume and the automatic BEP-95 algorithm, which reduces the token supply directly from network fees. This is equivalent to a stock buyback for a public company — an embedded deflationary mechanism.
Now about competitors.
— Most do not have centralized support with a working infrastructure.
— Meme coins have neither function, nor burning, nor product linkage.
— Most L1 tokens have weak internal demand. They are held "for luck" or in anticipation of growth.
BNB services the network, provides access to services, offers savings, and participates in Binance's strategies. Its demand is a utilitarian load and function. This is why it is interesting not to speculators, but to those who understand that price growth must be backed by increasing demand and decreasing issuance.