Crypto 101 | 'Building' Binance? Learn BNB in One Page

In the early days of the crypto world, most tokens started with idealistic ambitions — to create decentralized finance (DeFi), rebuild the internet, or even change the world. But BNB's story is quite different — it began as a less sexy, utility-based platform token, went through several rounds of technical upgrades and ecosystem expansion, and has now grown into one of the top five cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Beyond its impressive growth, the story behind BNB’s issuer — Binance — and its founder is full of dramatic turns and lessons.

Today, Crypto-Moo will walk you through the essentials of BNB, BNB Chain, and Binance — all in one simple read.

1. BNB is a platform token issued by Binance in 2017, originally priced at around $0.10 per token.

2. Binance is currently the world’s largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange, with over 290 million users and a total trading volume exceeding USD 125 trillion — more than the projected 2025 global GDP.

3. Binance's founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) was investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for anti–money laundering compliance failures and served about four months in prison in 2024. In October 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump granted him a presidential pardon.

To understand BNB’s value and valuation logic, we have to start with Binance, the platform behind it.

Binance began as a simple exchange for trading cryptocurrencies — matching buyers and sellers. But within just a few years, it evolved into a super ecosystem that now covers token trading, lending, payments, NFTs, and blockchain infrastructure.

Through the following two tables, you can get a clearer picture of how Binance operates and expands its influence:

BNB was initially created to allow users to pay transaction fees on the Binance exchange and to serve as a native incentive for user growth and engagement.

Just like investors on moomoo pay fees in fiat currency when trading stocks, Binance users can use BNB to pay trading fees when buying or selling cryptocurrencies.

Sharp-eyed investors quickly noticed this was a powerful way to anchor the entire ecosystem — and BNB truly delivered on that potential. A few years later, Binance continued expanding its ecosystem, and in 2020, launched its own public blockchain, Binance Smart Chain (BSC) — later renamed BNB Chain.

This move marked a major shift: users could now not only use BNB to pay trading fees but also use it to buy a cup of coffee one morning or interact with smart contracts on the BNB Chain.

BNB and Binance’s growth stories are fascinating — but Binance’s journey has not been without controversy.

In late 2023, Binance founder CZ was investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for lapses in Binance’s anti–money laundering controls.

He eventually pled guilty and served four months in prison, a case often compared to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s imprisonment.

However, in 2025, former President Donald Trump pardoned CZ, symbolizing Binance’s transition toward a more institutionalized and compliant phase. This episode highlighted a broader truth of the industry: “From the wild frontier to the era of regulation — every major platform must pay its tuition.”

BNB’s price performance is deeply tied to Binance’s business health. When the platform thrives, BNB benefits; when regulatory pressures or market sentiment turn negative, BNB tends to fall too.

In essence, BNB is not a pure crypto asset — it behaves more like an ‘ecosystem stock,’ reflecting both Binance’s growth and its risks.

In the stock market, brokers are heavily regulated and must disclose information transparently. In the crypto market, however, the rulebook is still being written. Whether it’s BNB, BTC, or ETH — before investing, it’s crucial to understand the project’s logic and assess your own risk tolerance. That’s what real, mature investing looks like.

To understand why this event has caused such a stir in the industry, it's necessary to look back at the biggest "black swan" event in the crypto world in recent years—the collapse of FTX. Before 2022, the customer asset reserves of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges were largely a "black box," and users had no choice but to trust the platforms. This situation was completely upended in November 2022.