BNB Chain Enjoys Significant Growth in 2022 Despite Crypto Winter

Over the past year BNB Chain has made significant strides in terms of onboarding the next billion users into Web3. The network’s considerable capabilities saw a huge number of exciting DeFi, GameFi and SocialFi projects make the decision to deploy on BNB Chain.

We saw the number of unique addresses on BNB Chain surpass Ethereum and go on to cross a staggering 230 million, making it the largest layer 1 blockchain in the world. The network also saw record-breaking highs in terms of transaction volume which reached 9.8 million in May of 2022, and daily active users apex at 2.2 million in October.

The network’s growth is based on significant technological advancements and community-building initiatives that have taken place throughout the year. Following the 2022 technical roadmap, which focused on multichain interoperability, the blockchain introduced a series of  technological upgrades, facilitating faster transactions, lower costs, and extra capacity.

Alvin Kan, Director of Growth & Ops at BNB Chain said: “Our community has made remarkable strides in the development of blockchain technology. We launched BNB Sidechain, zkBNB, Binance Oracle, security initiatives such as AvengerDAO, among others. This has resulted in faster transactions, lower costs, and extra capacity, giving builders the confidence to onboard a large number of users. The team at BNB Chain is committed to providing a secure and user-friendly platform for developers and users alike, marching towards our mission to onboard the next billion users to Web3.”

The deployment of BNB Sidechain and zkBNB Testnet has been a game-changer for developers, providing the necessary scalability, speed and security to  build dApps with large user bases. Another important development was to significantly increase the network's decentralization by adding 23 more validators to the block production process, bringing the total number of validators to 49. The blockchain plans to add another 40 to 60 new validators in the coming months.

Furthermore, to support the growth of Web3 Dapps, BNB Chain introduced several developer support programs such as the Builder Grant and the $10 Million Gas Fee Incentive.

The launch of Soulbound Tokens (SBTs) bolstered BNB Chain's position in the NFT and GameFi sectors. Additionally, the network continued to grow in DeFi with a TVL of $7.6 billion in Q3 alone.

Initiatives such as the EU Incubator and the Most Valuable Builder accelerator program greatly helped the growth of new projects on the BNB Chain ecosystem. These initiatives have consistently attracted more developers and partners, including Google Cloud, AWS, OpenSea, Opera, and BNB Chain.

In terms of security, AvengerDAO was launched in September 2022 as a BNB Chain community-led initiative that allows dApps to protect their users in real time when security exploits occur.

In 2023, the blockchain plans to launch the zkBNB mainnet and host hackathons and developer meet-ups for teams interested in deploying zkBNB and other solutions to improve user experience on their dApps. The core developer team is also working on an improved Web3 blockchain storage system, which will lower operational costs for projects on BNB Chain.

2022 Timeline

Check out our exhaustive overview of the exciting initiatives BNB Chain launched throughout the year.

January

• Released BSC 2022 Roadmap
• Buildnbuild.dev: BNB Chain’s New Forum Dedicated to Developers and Builders Launched
• Launched MVB IV: MetaFi - Smarter DeFi for the Web3 Universe
• BSC Client Update: V1.1.8 - Jan 28 2022 - Release v1.1.8 is a performance release. Verification && Commit Pipeline, Go Native Tracer and Block Prune are introduced in this release.

February

• Binance Smart Chain Rebrands to BNB Chain
• Launched DeFi League link
• Crossed 2.5 billion transactions link

March

• Aptos Joins BNB Chain on Its Mission to Onboard the First 1 Billion Users to Crypto
• BNB Sidechain Testnet Launch
• Revelation Hackathon
• BEP131: Introduced Candidate Validators Onto BNB Smart Chain
• BNB Chain reached 2.7b total transactions

April

• Paris Blockchain Week
• BNB Beacon Chain Mainnet Descartes Upgrade
• Launched FutureFi event
• First Metaverse Hip-Hop Concert with American rapper Quavo
• BNB Chain University Roadshow in Pakistan
• BSC Client Update: V1.1.9

May

• Opera Crypto Browser Integrates BNB Chain and Unlocks Access to Its Ecosystem of dApps
• BNB Chain Extended Support for Terra Builders
• BNB Chain 2022 Tech Roadmap Update
• Revelation Summit, Hackathon Winners Announced
• BNB Chain Learn & Earn Campaign ‘How to Web3’ with CMC and Galxe link
• BNB Chain crossed 3B total transactions
• BEP-131 draft publication: https://github.com/bnb-chain/BEPs/blob/master/BEP131.md
• BSC Client Update: V1.1.10 - May 5 2022 - A hardfork release that will enabled BEP127 and BEP131 on the Chapel testnet. This upgrade is named after Leonhard Euler in honor of his key contributions to mathematics and mechanics.

June

• BNB Chain Presented the DAO House Experience at Consensus 2022
• BNB Smart Chain Euler hard fork - 20 new validators introduced onto BNB Smart Chain via the BEP-131 proposal - 41 total validators; Nakamoto coefficient - 7
• BNB Chain Launched MVB V - 700+ Participating Projects
• BNB Beacon Chain Goes Open-Source
• BNB Chain Partnered with University of Zurich - collaborates with the Blockchain Center of the University of Zurich (UZH BCC) in designing a section of the course on fundamental blockchain concepts and hosts an NFT workshop for students.
• BNB Chain NFTs get Nansen support
• BNB Chain Student Ambassador’s Program Launched
• BSC Client Update: V1.1.11 - Jun 8 2022 - This is a hard fork release that enabled BEP127 and BEP131 on the BSC mainnet. This upgrade is named after Leonhard Euler in honor of his key contributions to mathematics and mechanics.

July

• DappBay Launches: A home for users looking to explore Web3 dApps
• SpaceID launched a .BNB Multi-Chain Identity for users
• BSC Client Update: V1.1.12

August

• Binance Unveils First-Ever Soulbound Token on BNB Chain
• BNB Chain Reddit Creator Campaign
• BNB Chain Web3 Stars Accelerator Program Launches in Vietnam
• BNB Chain Partners with Platzi, the Largest Online Learning Community in Latin America on Web3 Developer Education
• BNB Chain Introduces Liquid Staking (alongside CMC BNB Boost)
• The BNB Beacon Chain Mainnet hard fork Godel upgrade at block height 264,000,000.
• zkBNB Testnet goes open source
• BEP131 BNB Chain On-Chain Governance Vote : Enable BEP131 step1: modify maxNumOfCandidates from 0 to 20
• BEP131 BNB Chain On-Chain Governance Vote: Modify maxNumOfWorkingCandidates from 0 to 2
• BEP131 BNB Chain On-Chain Governance Vote: Enable BEP131 step3: modify max_validators from 21 to 23

September

• BNB Chain, Google Cloud Team Up to Advance Growth of Web3 and Blockchain Projects
• BNB Chain attended Binance Blockchain Week
• AvengerDAO Launch
• MVB V finalists announced
• BNB Chain x HackMIT 2022
• BNB Chain Advocates Program Launch
• Launched "BNB Boost" Learn & Earn
• BNB Smart Chain Chapel Testnet hardfork Gibbs upgrade at block height 22,800,220.
• BNB Chain Goa Meetup
• BNB Chain On-Chain Governance Vote: Modify max_validators from 23 to 26
• BSC Client Update: V1.1.13
• BSC Client Update: V1.1.14

October

• BNB Chain Builder Grant
• BNB Chain launched the European Innovation Incubator, a three-week virtual program designed for innovative Web3 startups across Europe to build and scale dApps, driving towards a decentralized future.
• Stableswaps (Wombat Ecosystem) launch
• BNB Chain Launched 10 Million Gas fee Incentive
• BNB Chain Hack (BNB Chain: A Decentralized Response)
• Innovation Pitch Day in San Francisco
• Binance Oracle Launch
• BNB Chain Partners P12 and Quest3 to Launch Web3 Gaming Carnival
• BNB Chain HackTX Innovation Hackathon
• BSC Client Update: V1.1.15 - Oct 7 2022 - BSC v1.1.15 is a hot fix and hard-fork release. The hard-fork height is 21962149
• BSC Client Update: V1.1.16 - Oct 11 2022 - This release is a temporary urgent patch to mitigate the cross-chain infrastructure between Beacon Chain and Smart Chain so that the cross-chain can be re-enabled back. It is a hardfork release for both testnet and mainnet.

November

• BNB Chain reached an incredible new milestone in the way of unique addresses
• OpenSea Adds Support for BNB Chain NFTs
• MVB VI launched , Fit For Flight, Applications open
• Football Fiesta Launch
• BNBdev.community: BNB Chain’s  launched community driven content aggregation platform
• BNB Chain On-Chain Governance Vote: Modify maxNumOfWorkingCandidates from 2 to 3
• BSC Client Update: V1.1.17
• BSC Client Update: V1.1.18

December

• BNB Chain Innovation Hackathon - Seoul
• Vietnam, Kyros and AWS Event
• BNB Chain Innovation Pitch Day in New York
• 12 Days of NFT campaign
• CR7 Dedicated to Educating Users in Web3
• Venus V4 announced
• BNB Chain On-Chain Governance Vote: Modify NumOfCandidates from 5 to 8 (on-going, not yet finalized)
• BSC Client Update: V1.1.18_hf Dec 1 2022 - This is a hotfix version, which has fixed the problem that Prometheus monitoring acquisition failed after v1.1.18 was merged.
  

The above highlights just some of the impressive progress BNB Chain has given rise to throughout 2022. We are dedicated to ensuring that 2023 is even bigger and better as we aim to make mass adoption a reality.

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