Binance Smart Chain Rebrands to BNB Chain

Binance Smart Chain (BSC), the layer 1, or base, blockchain of crypto exchange Binance, announced a major rebranding and a push towards expansion, according to a press release shared with CoinDesk.

• BSC is rebranding to BNB Chain, which stands for Build and Build, in an effort to draw a connection to Binance’s BNB token, the governance token for the protocol, the press release said.
• The BNB Chain will be made up of two parts: BNB Beacon Chain, previously Binance Chain; and BNB Smart Chain, formerly BSC. BSC is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), where smart contracts are executed, and serves as a hub to access other blockchains.
• Binance has committed over $1 billion to support the BSC ecosystem as it competes with the Ethereum network and other layer 1 blockchains. BSC has drawn criticism for being too centralized and for the rug pulls taking place on its ecosystem.
• In designing BSC, Binance had to sacrifice some decentralization to compete with Ethereum, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao told CoinDesk in September 2020.
• The BNB Chain will also increase the number of validators on BSC to 41 from 21, said Samy Karim, BNB Chain ecosystem coordinator, in the press release. The 20 additional validators will function as candidate block producers, Karim said.
• By expanding validators and improving scaling, BNB Chain will “embrace” large-scale applications in GameFi, SocialFi and the metaverse, Karim added. The metaverse refers to an immersive digital world created by the combination of virtual reality, augmented reality.