By CCN: These are heady times for Binance Coin (BNB), the in-house cryptocurrency launched by the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance. BNB hit a new all-time high a few days ago and the exchange successfully launched Binance chain, which features BNB and marks the coin’s independence from Ethereum. The cryptosphere has been filled with noises about BNB possibly being the new “Ethereum killer.” Weiss Ratings took the conversation a step further, suggesting that BNB might even be the new bitcoin.
It seems #BNB is leading the market now – when BNB is up, the market is up – and vice versa. Is BNB the new #BTC? #bitcoin #crypto
— Weiss Ratings (@WeissRatings) April 22, 2019
BNB is currently the No. 7 cryptocurrency with a market share of $3.42 billion, up from $800 million at the start of the year. Data from CoinMarketCap shows that BNB has also recorded price growth of almost 300% year-to-date, rocketing up from $6.19 in early 2019 to about $24.18 currently. Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is doing something right.
Some people believe that BNB’s impressive numbers signal the end of the road for Ethereum. According to this school of thought, Ethereum, which has found much of its success as a host blockchain for ERC-20 tokens, has been proved to be irrelevant by Binance Chain. As a result, some now believe that Ethereum is facing a long-term decline heralded by the rise of BNB.
Not a Zero-Sum Game
CZ, however, is having none of it. Speaking on Twitter, the Binance chief remarked that he does not see ETH and BNB as rivals but as collaborators in the race to encourage adoption and mainstreaming. Responding to a user who suggested that BNB’s switch to Binance Chain would adversely affect Ethereum, Zhao said:
I like the positivity for #bnb 🙏🙏🙏, but we really don’t have to diss any other coin. #eth can do much more than #bnb in features. Let’s grow together. 🤝🤝🤝 https://t.co/26a2T0Om3x
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) April 22, 2019
Zhao’s comment is something of a minor sensation in the world of competitive crypto tokens, where it’s not uncommon to see founders and promoters mudslinging. The world of altcoins has long been host to a series of damaging tribal wars and incendiary comments intended to pump certain coins and damage others. The relatively small size of the crypto market means that some only see their survival as something to be gained at the expense of other projects.
This comment by CZ marks a watershed because, for the first time, a front line crypto personality with a successful coin and chain is not issuing taunts or Twitter comments to deride and bait competing coins. His message is that the crypto sky is big enough for all projects to fly, so any conflict is pointless and distracting.
Anyone who is familiar with the crypto industry will appreciate the significance of such a statement coming from someone like CZ. When compared to the insults fired off by Tron founder Justin Sun, for example, it’s clear CZ believes in a totally different strategy than fighting Ethereum for crypto’s No. 2 spot.
ETH can do a lot of other things Binance Chain can’t. @Binance_DEX just specialize on one use case.
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) April 20, 2019
Is Crypto Finally Growing Up?
Zhao’s comment is particularly important because it points out the much-ignored truth that most prominent coins are designed to achieve different things, and as such are conceptually not supposed to be in competition. It was met with enthusiasm from crypto users commending him for exhibiting great leadership qualities and expressing hope that his words signal a new era of cooperation instead of pointless destruction in the crypto space.
Binance has also launched Binance Singapore, a fiat-BTC exchange with investment from a Singaporean sovereign fund-backed VC firm. The signs are there that it’s not just words coming from CZ. His message is that it is time to stop bickering and actually build something. Hopefully, that message will get through soon enough.
