With all the focus on solana and cardano, it’s funny how no one is speaking about the world’s fourth-largest cryptocurrency and a true challenger to the smart contract space.

What is Binance?

Binance is a cryptocurrency trading exchange founded by Changpeng Zhao, known in the crypto community as “CZ”. A cryptocurrency trading exchange is similar to the JSE or the New York Stock Exchange, but for crypto-related products.

Due to the wide variety of cryptocurrencies and features offered to its clients, Binance has grown to superstardom. It has become a “go-to” exchange for many to buy cryptocurrencies, with a 2020 crypto exchange volume of around US$2–trillion.

Believe it or not, this volume is growing at an alarming rate, with 2021’s total trading volumes ranging from roughly $60-$90 billion/day. This means Binance could be on track to do north of $20–trillion in trading volume this year. To put this into perspective, the second largest exchange is only about a fifth of this volume.

Besides being an exchange for trading cryptos, Binance also has its own blockchain, the Binance smart chain (BSC). The BSC offers similar features to ethereum, solana and cardano, in that it seeks to develop an ecosystem of decentralised finance (DeFi) products and services by facilitating these financial transactions using smart contracts.

DeFi is a subsector of the cryptocurrency industry challenging traditional financial institutions, including banks, insurance companies and stockbrokers, where entrepreneurs build semi-automated trading and lending systems atop blockchain networks.

Like solana, BSC offers faster transaction times, lower fees and a programming capability that makes it easy for developers to create complex smart contracts.

But there is a catch… While the BSC might offer much faster transactions and lower costs, it does compromise to get there.

The reason the ethereum blockchain is “slower” is because a decentralised network operates across thousands of nodes or computers, and therefore it takes time for this network to reach a consensus.

The reason the Binance network can operate at a much faster transaction speed is because it only uses 21 validators. Therefore, much like solana, the BSC is giving up some decentralisation to bring about faster transactions.

What is Binance coin’s purpose?

Binance coin (BNB) is the native cryptocurrency of the Binance network. BNB was originally created as an ERC-20 token on the ethereum network but has since moved away from this and developed its own network, BSC.

BNB was created as an easy way for Binance users to pay trading fees and furthermore as a utility token.

A utility token is a token that cannot be considered as money but rather gives users access to products and services on that specific platform.

For example, Binance allows users to participate in multiple areas, including trading, investing, earning interest, lending, borrowing and much more. For all these features, Binance charges a fee. Under trading, users pay a lower fee if they paid in BNB. Furthermore, the more BNB you hold, the more of a discount you can get on these trading fees.

Much like using ethereum to pay fees when interacting with ethereum protocols, users need to use BNB to interact with the BSC and all the applications built on top of it.

Binance coin’s performance?

We know solana and cardano have been grabbing all the limelight over the past few months as their returns have been nothing short of astonishing. But Binance coin’s returns haven’t been that far off.

Below we can see the returns of the biggest and most trusted cryptocurrencies.

Binance is currently the third top-performing cryptocurrency. It is also the best–performing centralised exchange cryptocurrency (CEX). But returns don’t show you everything. You need to follow the money…

Based on the total value locked (TVL) into smart contract platforms, Binance smart chain is the second largest behind ethereum, with 13% of all smart contract value locked.

The TVL is simply the number of assets currently being held on specific smart contract platforms. TVL, therefore, shows exactly which smart contract platforms are attracting the most money and hence the most adoption.

Why would I invest in it?

There are many good reasons to own BNB. Perhaps first and foremost, BNB gives you exposure to the biggest crypto exchange in the world while also giving you exposure to the second biggest smart contract cryptocurrency.

As stated above, the BSC offers faster transaction times, lower fees and a programming capability that makes it easy for developers to create complex smart contracts. This is clearly an attractive blockchain to developers as the TVL shows it to be the second biggest with regards to assets held in their smart contracts.

Yes, Binance has had its share of regulatory scrutiny from governments worldwide, but it is actively working to fix the issues that led to these concerns.

Where do I buy Binance coin?

Cape Town–based crypto investment platform Revix (www.revix.com), which is backed by JSE–listed Sabvest, will be one of the first platforms in South Africa to offer Binance coin as a standalone cryptocurrency investment option. Revix will be offering BNB from 24 September with an enticing fee-free promotion.

Revix promotions

● Revix will offer zero buying fees on Binance coin purchases when using rands and British pounds for one week (24 to 30 September 2021).
● Revix will also be offering a refer a friend promotion: If you refer one or multiple persons using your referral code, you will receive double the Revix rewards to the value of R600 per referral. (Promotion valid: 17 to 30 September 2021.)

Revix also offers multiple standalone cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, ethereum, solana, uniswap, polkadot and many others.

Through Revix, you can also gain access to their ready-made “crypto bundles”. Their bundles enable you to effortlessly own an equally weighted basket of the world’s largest and, by default, most successful cryptocurrencies without having to build and manage a crypto portfolio yourself. They’re like the JSE Top40 or S&P 500 but for crypto.

About Revix
Revix brings simplicity, trust and great customer service when investing in cryptocurrencies. Its easy-to-use online platform enables anyone to securely own the world’s top cryptocurrencies in just a few clicks. Revix guides new clients through the sign-up process to their first deposit and first investment. Once set up, most customers manage their own portfolio but can access support from the Revix team at any time.

Remember, cryptocurrencies are high-risk investments. You should not invest more than you can afford to lose, and before investing, please take into consideration your level of experience, investment objectives and seek independent financial advice if necessary.

This article is intended for informational purposes only. The views expressed are opinions, not facts, and should not be construed as investment advice or recommendations. This article is not an offer, nor the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any cryptocurrency.

To learn more, visit www.revix.com.