DEV Community

Cover image for Introduction to Binance Smart Chain
Manbir Singh Marwah
Manbir Singh Marwah

Posted on

Introduction to Binance Smart Chain

You might known Binance as the world's latgest blockchain and digital assets exchange, but what's Binance Smart Chain? And what makes it so... smart? 👀

Binance Smart Chain (or BSC) is a blockchain network by Binance, launched in September 2020 for the developers to build decentralized applications, focusing on scalability.

Interestingly, BSC is based on Ethereum and features smart contracts along with a support for a wide range of DeFi protocols. By incorporating a consensus mechanism called Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA), a combination of Proof of Stake (PoS) and Proof of Authority (PoA), BSC makes the best of both worlds boosting the network performance.

Some of the key-features of Binance Smart Chain are:

  • Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) Compatibility, which means DApps running on Ethereum can be ported for BSC
  • Cross-chain compatibility with Binance Chain
  • Proof of Staked Authority
  • Lightening-fast Block Time of ~3 seconds

What's in it for BNB holders?

BSC provides a staking functionality for BNB holders, which is the native token for Binance ecosystem. By participating in staking, the BNB holders receive rewards from BSC validators, along with staking interests.

Some Interesting Facts About Binance Smart Chain

  • Binance Chain is completely different from BSC. The former was the original network by Binance, built to support Binance DEX, but it didn't offer smart contracts
  • BSC was then introduced to offer scalability through smart contracts
  • Binance Chain and BSC are interoperable
  • BSC is independent, and can run even if Binance Chain goes down
  • The liquidity on Binance exchange serves as a huge plus for BSC
  • BSC widely contributes to bridging the gap between centralized and decentralized finance
  • There's BSC support on various leading wallets including Trust Wallet and MetaMask

Use Cases

image

Using Binance Smart Chain, you can:

  • Trade using DEX platforms such as PancakeSwap
  • Create pegged tokens from other blockchains to make them compatible with BSC
  • Perform yield farming using platforms such as Autofarm
  • Create NFT marketplaces or trade on the existing ones

To learn more about Binance Smart Chain, head over to Binance Academy. If you want to build on BSC, check out Binance Docs.


Disclaimer: This blog is meant for educational purposes only and nothing from this blog should be taken as a financial advice. Please DYOR before investing.

Top comments (0)