While Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) dominate the discourse surrounding cryptocurrencies thanks to their positioning as the top two assets by market cap, BNB (CRYPTO: BNB) is a major cryptocurrency which has gained significant traction in the global market. Amid fierce competition, BNB has consistently ranked in the top five of all cryptos by market capitalization.
A key element that attracts investor interest in Bitcoin is its sheer market size. At the moment, the total market value of all cryptocurrencies stands at over $3.2 trillion. With Bitcoin carrying a market cap approaching the $2 trillion mark, it is more valuable than the combined valuations of multiple top blue-chip juggernauts, including entities like Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX).
However, the success of certain cryptos like Bitcoin has resulted in forward growth concerns due to the challenge of the law of large numbers. Many investors are now looking to alternative assets as tokens with lesser market caps may have more opportunity to appreciate. Outside of Bitcoin, various cryptocurrencies are competing to be the go-to smart contract platform (ETH, SOL, AVAX, etc.). While these tokens tout utility within a growing web3 as their investment case, their tokenomics can raise concerns around increasing supply and inflation.
On the other hand, BNB can be seen as a store of value token via its burning mechanism but also has utility as an asset underpinning the BNB Chain ecosystem and Binance exchange. It is important to note that BNB does not offer investors any claim to the profits of Binance. However, Binance offers users trading discounts when paying with BNB, and Binance is the largest known holder of BNB. Despite its size and importance in the crypto ecosystem, U.S. investors still have significant challenges acquiring and leveraging BNB, which is where Osprey Funds comes into the picture.
Binance’s Growing Market Footprint
A key characteristic of the BNB narrative is the expansion of the overall footprint of the Binance ecosystem. Binance facilitated $7.36 trillion in spot transactions in 2024 – nearly seven times the volume of Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) during the same period. What’s more, in the second half of 2024 alone, Binance reported more than 50 million new users, bringing total users to over 250 million. As the Binance exchange grows, BNB may also experience associated value accrual as exchange users are incentivized to buy the token for discounted trading fees. The exchange currently offers users a 25% discount on trading fees when paying with BNB. In addition to discounted trading fees, BNB holders can lock their tokens to gain access to new tokens being launched on the exchange through the Binance Launchpad. The launchpad …
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