Binance is taking its first step to scaling its BNB Smart Chain to support multiple blockchains. Binance announced that it has reworked its previously decommissioned cross-bridge platform Binance Bridge, now naming it Binance Bridge 2.0.
Binance Bridge 2.0 launches within the Binance app
In a press release today, the global company revealed that Binance Bridge 2.0 will allow BNB Smart Chain (BSC) support tokens from other blockchains, starting with ERC20 tokens. Most importantly, the platform will allow the use of this functionality directly from the Binance centralized exchange application, the release noted.
The platform will allow for the porting of most ERC20 tokens to BSC as wrapped BEP20 tokens or BToken, including those not listed on the Binance exchange. The wrapped tokens can then be utilized on BSC-based DeFi platforms like PancakeSwap.
With Binance Bridge 2.0, you can wrap ERC20 tokens to receive BEP20 BTokens and immediately start staking your Ethereum or other supported assets with DeFi protocols running on the BNB Smart Chain, the release said.
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Other perks of the platform include a new look to make the user experience easier to navigate. It also introduces a novel way for users to store unlisted tokens on the Binance app – Self-Custody Wallet (SCW).
When users port over tokens listed on the Binance exchange, they can be held in spot or funding wallets. But unlisted tokens will be held in the new SCW which also gives users complete control of the wallet as it is non-custodial.
The announcement, which further blurs the line between Binance’s centralized finance (CeFi) and decentralized finance(DeFi) services, is coming after recent rebranding efforts. Last month, Binance Smart Chain and Binance Chain were both brought under the new moniker BNB Smart Chain.
The native token of the platform, Binance Coin (BNB) was also renamed to just BNB, an acronym for “Build and Build.” At the time, Binance stated that its vision for the L1 blockchain was to be a key player in the virtual economy that is rapidly approaching.
The move was also made to distance the Layer 1 blockchain from the centralized Binance exchange and reflect its decentralized nature.
BSC is in a race to take Ethereum’s position
BSC is rapidly gaining ground as a strong competitor to the Ethereum blockchain as a smart contracts platform. In a recent comparison, BSC showed itself to have significantly lower fees than Ethereum for performing transactions.
BSC clocked in at an average $0.37 gas fee for transactions compared to Ethereum’s double-digit fees.
Meanwhile, BNB has maintained its status as the 4th biggest cryptocurrency by market cap, with a value of $73 billion. BNB is currently trading at around $439, down 0.07 on the day. It has however been on a bull run recently; BNB is up 7.76% in the last week.
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