The native token of the BNB Chain network, developed by Binance, has risen to third place among the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, surpassing Ripple’s XRP. Over the week, BNB’s capitalization grew by 28%, exceeding $182 billion, sparking heated discussion in the community and suspicions of manipulation.
BNB strengthens its position amid market growth
BNB’s growth is outpacing most major assets. After breaking the $1,100 mark on Friday, the token set a new high at $1,326, gaining almost 30% in a week. According to CoinGecko, its capitalization reached $182 billion, allowing it to overtake XRP, which now ranks fourth.
For comparison, since the beginning of October, Bitcoin’s market value has increased by 5%, Ethereum’s by 8.4%, and the total crypto market volume has grown by only 5.5%. Against this backdrop, BNB added about $40 billion to its valuation in seven days—a result that previously took it more than two months to achieve.
Institutional attention and regional initiatives
One of the growth factors was the activation of projects based on BNB Chain. In Kazakhstan, a state fund based on BNB was recently launched to support the development of blockchain initiatives and digital payments.
In addition, according to the network, the number of active BNB Chain users exceeded 60 million per month, and the volume of operations in the ecosystem reached new all-time highs. This strengthened investors’ confidence in the network’s long-term potential, although the nature of BNB’s growth remains a subject of debate.
Suspicions of manipulation and community reaction
The unusually sharp rise in BNB sparked lively discussion on social media. Some Reddit and X users compared the token to FTT, the native asset of the bankrupt FTX exchange, and suggested that BNB’s growth may have been artificially supported.
User DeFiTracer accused Binance of ‘buying back millions of BNB tokens to liquidate shorts’, thereby boosting the price. In response to the accusations, representatives of Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) have not yet made official statements.
CZ only published a laconic message on X:
‘Keep building on BNB Chain’, while the official network account retweeted an analysis by enthusiast Momin Saqib, noting that ‘amid industry uncertainty, it is BNB that is showing the best performance’.
Centralization and CZ’s share
According to previous reports, CZ may own up to 64% of the circulating BNB supply, which at the current capitalization corresponds to about $116 billion. Such concentration raises concerns among analysts, pointing to potential risks of centralization and market influence.
Despite these concerns, BNB supporters emphasize that the token serves as the foundation of Binance’s rapidly growing ecosystem, including DeFi protocols, NFTs, and payment services.
What’s next?
The sharp rise of BNB has strengthened its position among the largest crypto assets, but at the same time has intensified questions about market transparency.
If the current momentum continues, BNB may secure its place among the top three by capitalization, but the sustainability of growth largely depends on investor confidence and Binance’s response to manipulation allegations.
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