Binance Coin (BNB) Market Cap Surpasses Santander and UBS

2021 has been an exciting year for Binance Coin (BNB), which has rallied by more than 900%, making the token's $64 billion market cap larger than Santander, the Bank of Montreal and UBS.

One of the primary reason for BNB's growth was continued congestion on the Ethereum network. As this struggle continued, Binance Smart Chain (BSC) emerged as an alternative, meeting the rapidly growing decentralized finance (DeFi) sector's demands.

With a market cap of $64 billion, BNB has surpassed traditional banks, including Santander, the Bank of Montreal, and UBS. Meanwhile, some analysts also pointed to Coinbase's upcoming direct listing ($100-billion valuation) as a catalyst for the BNB price hike.

Additionally, the direct listing of BNB is adding value to centralized exchange tokens. There are also speculations that other U.S.-based regulated exchanges like Kraken and Gemini would follow Coinbase's footprint as an attempt to raise funds through a stock offering.

BNB token offers holders a discount on trading fees, and it is required for those who participate in Binance Launchpad token sales. As BNB gained liquidity, it also became a base pair at the Binance exchange. Over time, as use cases emerged the Binance Smart Chain gained traction. For instance, BNB can cover network fees and serve as a utility token in the ecosystem, including decentralized apps (dApps) and games.

Periodically Binance burns some of the non-circulating BNB tokens based on the exchange's overall trading volume. This strategy's efficacy disappeared over time as investors thought that these destroyed tokens were never in the circulating supply.

The Binance Smart Chain network uses a Proof of Stake, eliminating the need for miners or expensive transaction fees. The platform also has kept its compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and has a similar token and smart contract structure.

Many tokenized cryptocurrencies have gained relevance in Binance's networks, allowing users to eliminate miner fees. Another benefit of Binance Smart Chain's BEP-20 model is staking and farming capabilities in a network of decentralized applications like the PancakeSwap DEX and Venus lending platform.

Disclaimer: The author’s views and opinions are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.