Surveying Public Awareness and Favorability of Binance Coin Over Time

Binance Coin (BNB) is a cryptocurrency that was launched in 2017 by the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. As one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, Binance has helped drive mainstream adoption of digital assets. But how has public awareness and favorability of Binance Coin itself changed over time? This article will survey Binance Coin's journey from obscurity to mainstream recognition.

Early Days of Obscurity

When Binance Coin first launched via an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017, crypto was still a niche interest. Bitcoin was just starting to gain traction in the public consciousness, but altcoins like BNB were relatively unknown outside of crypto circles.

In the early days, Binance Coin was almost exclusively used on the Binance exchange to pay trading fees at a discounted rate. There was minimal utility or use cases beyond that. As such, public awareness of BNB in 2017-2018 was very low. Crypto enthusiasts on Reddit and Twitter discussed it, but most people had never heard of Binance Coin.

The crypto bull run at the end of 2017 certainly increased interest in crypto generally. However, BNB still flew under the radar of most casual crypto investors at the time. It would take more than speculation to bring BNB into mainstream recognition.

Growing Awareness Through New Use Cases

BNB started to gain more utility and visibility in 2019. That year, Binance launched the Binance DEX decentralized exchange which used BNB for gas fees. The Binance Charity Foundation also started accepting BNB donations.

These use cases got BNB in front of more users within the crypto ecosystem. Binance also launched the Binance Card, a crypto debit card that let users spend BNB at over 60 million merchants worldwide. This helped expose more casual users to BNB as a payment method, rather than just a trading coin.

In early 2021, Binance Coin started to see significantly greater awareness, particularly as DeFi and NFTs gained steam. The Binance Smart Chain (BSC) became hugely popular for DeFi applications, bringing a new wave of users holding BNB for gas fees.

BNB also powered NFT marketplaces and games on BSC like BakerySwap. Being integral to these hot crypto trends greatly boosted BNB's utility and visibility with regular crypto users.

Reaching the Mainstream

Over the last year, Binance Coin has started gaining mainstream recognition outside of just the crypto community. Its market cap ranks 3rd among all cryptocurrencies behind Bitcoin and Ethereum. BNB reached an all-time high price of $686 in May 2021.

In November 2021, Binance Coin was featured in Bloomberg's Cryptocurrency Predictions report as one of 5 cryptocurrencies primed for growth. Being validated by mainstream finance outlets signals that BNB now has mainstream credibility.

The growth of Binance itself has also contributed to BNB's prominence. As the top crypto exchange globally, Binance helped bring crypto investing to millions of new users. Many learned about BNB for the first time just by being on the Binance platform.

BNB is also increasingly accepted by mainstream businesses and merchants. Travala.com and the Crypto.com Visa card allow users to pay in BNB. Adoption by these well-known brands further legitimizes BNB as a payment method for the average consumer.

The increased use of Binance Coin for real transactions also improves public perception. As Coinbase wrote in their 2020 cryptocurrency sentiment report: “Cryptocurrencies demonstrating real utility for payments or other business applications saw improved sentiment.” BNB checks both those boxes.

As Binance Coin continues maturing as an established cryptocurrency, public awareness and opinions of it will likely keep improving. New innovations like decentralized finance have the potential to make BNB indispensable to more people worldwide.

Conclusion

The journey of Binance Coin from obscurity to mainstream adoption offers some key lessons:

• Gaining real-world utility beyond just speculation is key for positive public perception of a cryptocurrency. BNB's use cases have multiplied over time.
• Integration with popular crypto trends like DeFi helps drive awareness with regular crypto users. BNB is widely used on BSC.
• Mainstream media coverage signals a cryptocurrency has gone mainstream. Outlets like Bloomberg validating BNB has exposed it more.
• Adoption for payments by mainstream businesses improves favorability as a real currency. More places accepting BNB contributes to its legitimacy.

Since launching 5 years ago, Binance Coin has made impressive strides from only being used on one platform to being known and used worldwide. Continuing to evolve its utility and applications will be key to furthering positive public awareness of BNB.