Binance-affiliated BNB Chain has experienced a resurgence in 2023, driven by the increasing adoption of institutional and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. Over the past year, BNB Chain has seen significant inflows from DeFi projects, US exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and a rise in trading volume on the Binance centralized exchange (CEX). As a result, the native BNB token has emerged as one of the most robust cryptocurrencies in the market, reaching all-time highs in the first quarter of 2025 despite the overall downward trend in the crypto market. According to industry experts, the strong performance of BNB is not just due to price action but is also supported by solid fundamentals, with Binance establishing a vast ecosystem where BNB is extensively used. Asset manager Standard Chartered predicts that the price of BNB could reach $2,775 by the end of 2028, with the current trading price around $600 per coin and a market capitalization of nearly $85 billion. In a significant development, VanEck has filed for the first BNB ETF in the United States, indicating growing institutional interest in the BNB ecosystem. Since the beginning of 2024, BNB Chain’s Total Value Locked (TVL) has risen from $3.5 billion to over $6 billion, although it is yet to reach the previous highs of over $20 billion in 2022. As of May 7, BNB Chain ranks fourth among layer-1 blockchain networks by TVL. Notably, BNB Chain’s use cases are primarily focused on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending protocols, and liquid staking, providing stability but capping upside potential, according to analysts at Standard Chartered. PancakeSwap is one of the largest DEXs on BNB Chain, with approximately $1.5 billion in TVL. Institutional adoption on the network is on the rise, driven by its association with Binance, which recorded an all-time high trading volume of around $76 trillion in 2024, accounting for 40% of global spot trading volumes. Additionally, the USD1 stablecoin, backed by former US President Donald Trump, has been predominantly issued on the BNB Chain, with over $2 billion worth of USD1 circulating on the network. The growing institutional interest and robust DeFi activity are positioning BNB Chain as a key player in the evolving blockchain ecosystem.