BNB has broken through the significant psychological barrier of $1,000, while BNB Chain has witnessed a renewed surge in on-chain activity. On September 21, its daily transaction volume hit a 30-day high, surpassing 16.5 million transactions in a single day. Concurrently, BNB Chain and opBNB have emerged as the public chains with the highest number of daily active users.
BNB Chain is increasingly acting as an amplifier for market sentiment. From Jobless and Aster to Giggle and Sign, with CZ’s endorsement, it has evolved from a “wealth code” into a “wealth code generator.”
Furthermore, BNB Chain is capitalizing on its momentum to strengthen fundamentals, planning to reduce per-transaction costs to approximately $0.005 through network upgrades. Wall Street asset management giant Franklin Templeton has also officially announced the expansion of its proprietary tokenization platform Benji to BNB Chain.
Yet amid soaring prices and fervent hype, some long-term BNB holders have chosen not to exit by selling off significantly.
Limited Options
After BNB recently hit a new high above $1,000, Kun, a market maker for a Binance Alpha project, refrained from selling. He has held BNB since 2021, with 90% of his portfolio allocated to the token.
Kun generally avoids participating in other non-mainstream altcoins. “With no clear exit strategy at present, I’m holding BNB to absorb the benefits of reduced interest rates,” he explained.
However, as staking lock-ups expire, Kun may consider partial exits. Since Binance Alpha launched, Launchpool returns have diminished, shrinking Kun’s passive income.
Another major BNB holder, Chen, has already sold 20% of his holdings. He allocated part of the proceeds to other platform tokens and invested a small portion in new meme coins trending on the BNB Chain.
Starting early 2024, Chen gradually allocated 50% of his portfolio to BNB as its price fluctuated between $300 and $500. After CZ’s release from prison, Chen continued adding to his position. Following the recent 20% sale, BNB now constitutes 30% of his total holdings.
From May this year to now, BNB has risen steadily for nearly five months from around $500. For Chen, taking profits at highs is standard practice. He avoided significant sell-offs because he believes BNB Chain remains in a favorable position and, equally, lacks better alternatives—“Bitcoin and Ethereum are growing too slowly, while other altcoins and meme coins only warrant small test positions.”
Crypto influencer BigFang shared on YouTube that $1,000 represents a crucial psychological threshold. He anticipates that once breached, traditional off-exchange capital will enter the market.
In early September, Hong Kong’s regulated exchange OSL launched BNB trading services for professional investors, marking BNB as the exchange’s sixth listed cryptocurrency. Additionally, several listed companies have established strategic BNB reserves, while VanEck, REX Shares, and Osprey Funds have submitted BNB ETF applications to the U.S. SEC.
Meanwhile, prominent crypto influencer Big Orange revealed on Twitter that he has held BNB since its ICO. When BNB hit a new high of $990, he added another 1,000 BNB to his position. Even after BNB’s recent peak, it remains his third-largest position, trailing only Ethereum and Bitcoin.
Beyond maintaining his BNB holdings, he has also invested in the BNB Chain ecosystem, purchasing 1.4 million Aster tokens. He declared, “Hold Aster like I held BNB eight years ago.”
Why such long-term commitment?
Compared to market sentiment surrounding CZ’s potential return to Binance’s leadership, this long-term BNB holder interviewed appears more focused on fundamentals like BNB’s token economics, team leadership capabilities, and future growth potential.
- BNB captures the actual revenue of the BNB ecosystem
“From a token economics perspective, BNB captures the actual revenue of the BNB ecosystem,” Kun states, citing this as the most critical reason for his holding.
Kun explains that, on one hand, BNB undergoes quarterly buybacks and burns, a deflationary mechanism that directly channels the exchange’s profits into the token’s value. Through continuous token destruction, BNB’s initial supply has decreased from 200 million to approximately 100 million, enhancing scarcity and value.
Kun noted that CZ and his team hold a portion of BNB, and these tokens won’t enter the market. This implies BNB’s circulating market cap is lower than surface-level data suggests.
On the other hand, BNB enables project teams to build liquidity pools on BNB Chain through Binance Alpha. These pools are funded using BNB, locking significant amounts of BNB within them. This mechanism resembles Solana’s staking pool principle, reducing circulating supply by locking tokens to enhance their value.
Holding BNB offers attractive additional benefits through Launchpool, HODLer airdrops, MegaDrop, and more. This is a key reason why major BNB holder Chen maintains long-term holdings. Chen also highlighted that as Binance’s core ecosystem asset, BNB possesses strong value capture capabilities. It is utilized in transaction fees, staking, new airdrop activities, and BNB Chain ecosystem applications.
- “Bullish” on CZ
The strategic acumen and execution capabilities of CZ and the BNB ecosystem are another major reason for widespread long-term holding.
Chen observes that Ethereum resembles a large corporation with a slower pace and reliance on external capital, while BNB Chain functions like an aggressive startup. Especially since CZ’s return, the team has continuously launched new projects and innovative features, consistently redirecting market attention and capital toward the BNB ecosystem.
Since CZ’s February call for “test coin” TST, followed by his dog meme and “Mubarak” meme—despite his earlier claims of disliking memes—he successfully redirected the community’s memecoin trading fervor from Solana to BNB Chain.
After the meme craze subsided, Binance Alpha spurred community trading of Binance’s new projects. Subsequently, the narrative around Four.meme’s platform token and BNB’s reserve strategy emerged. Then last week, after CZ changed his X profile from “ex-@binance” back to “@binance,” the focus shifted to Perp DEX, followed by Aster surging dozens of times. The CZ effect is now sweeping the community, with projects he interacts with—including those backed by YZi Labs—becoming the new crypto code.
Crypto KOL @yuyue_chris Yuyue also posted on X, stating that after CZ’s official “return,” it genuinely feels like you can profit alongside him: “Binance has truly mastered the essence of assets this time.”
For Kun, a tech-savvy individual who has witnessed countless crypto “Ponzi schemes” exploiting technical innovations to deceive people, CZ stands out as one of the few whose intentions seem genuinely positive. “CZ has long achieved financial freedom; his motives clearly aren’t about money. As a tech-focused individual actively engaged on the front lines, his focus on meaningful content feels more about solidifying Binance’s overall position.”
- Growth Opportunities from Traditional Sectors
Confidence in BNB stems not only from community vitality but also from gradual recognition and adoption within traditional industries. This “external validation” unlocks broader application scenarios and attracts substantial new capital.
Regarding use cases:
- Wall Street giants are progressively expanding their RWA operations onto BNB Chain. Recently, Franklin Templeton, an asset management giant overseeing $1.6 trillion, extended its tokenized products to BNB Chain. Another major asset manager, VanEck, partnered with Securitize to launch VBILL, a tokenized Treasury fund on BNB Chain. Ondo Finance and xStock have also announced plans to introduce tokenized Treasuries and structured products to BNB Chain.
Meanwhile, Binance Pay is actively advancing adoption in traditional commerce, recently enabling payments at 30,000 merchants in South Africa through a partnership with Zapper.
Regarding new capital inflows, strategic treasuries of traditional listed companies holding BNB are generating structural buying pressure.
BNB Network Company (BNC) remains the world's largest publicly listed company with BNB reserves, holding over 410,000 BNB as of September 10;
Nano Labs (NA) plans to invest $1 billion over three years to purchase BNB, aiming to hold 5%-10% of BNB's circulating supply. Its first-half financial report shows holdings of 128,000 BNB;Windtree Therapeutics (WINT) signed an agreement to allocate 99% of its raised funds toward acquiring BNB, strengthening its cryptocurrency capital strategy;
China Renaissance has invested approximately $100 million in a dedicated BNB asset allocation fund.
...Additionally, the GMC Special Economic Zone in the Kingdom of Bhutan has included BNB in its official strategic reserve asset list, signifying that BNB’s value and security have gained recognition at the sovereign level.
- Reduced Policy Risks for Binance
In March this year, Binance announced a $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi’s state-owned capital MGX, which Kun views as a highly positive signal. This signifies Binance has secured a powerful “protective umbrella.”
As the U.S. crypto environment gradually becomes more favorable this year, the policy risks facing Binance are also being progressively mitigated.
In May, the SEC filed to dismiss its lawsuit against Binance, Binance US, and CZ. On September 16, Bloomberg reported that Binance is negotiating with the U.S. Department of Justice to potentially conclude its compliance monitoring period, which began in 2023, ahead of schedule. This development has largely alleviated the market’s long-standing primary concern.
Amid the global trend toward regulatory compliance, Binance has secured regulatory approvals in approximately 21 countries and regions, including Dubai, Japan, the EU, and Southeast Asia, establishing its operations on a more compliant foundation.
Conclusion
In the current uncertain market environment, long-term holding of BNB reflects investors’ pragmatic approach amid limited options while also serving as a vote of confidence in an evolving ecosystem.
BNB’s upward trajectory is underpinned by multifaceted value drivers. Its deflationary model channels Binance’s real platform revenue into token value, establishing an intrinsic foundation. Following CZ’s return, ecosystem activity and project iteration speeds have significantly accelerated, continuously attracting developers and users to build a virtuous cycle of ecosystem development. Concurrently, traditional financial institutions and listed companies are progressively incorporating BNB into asset allocations or on-chain strategies, generating structural capital inflows. Advancements in global compliance efforts also provide a more stable policy environment for long-term holding. Technologically, continuous optimizations to BNB Chain’s network performance and reduced transaction costs further enhance on-chain experiences.
However, BNB’s investment risks remain significant. It remains a highly volatile cryptocurrency, influenced by specific company and ecosystem performance while exhibiting high sensitivity to global macroeconomic sentiment.
Overall, BNB has gradually transcended the attributes of a traditional platform token, evolving into a digital asset with an independent economic model and ecosystem logic. Its sustained future value will depend on the team’s strategic capabilities and execution, the continued growth of ecosystem projects, the effectiveness of technological upgrades, and its adaptability within the evolving global regulatory landscape.
