Binance Coin Breaks Free from 3-Year Price Range, Reaching New Record as Altcoin Shift Intensifies

BNB Hits Record Highs as Altcoin Rotation Gathers Pace Amid Regulatory Optimism

Cryptocurrencies that have faced regulatory hurdles in the past are now seeing significant gains, with growing expectations that a more favorable U.S. regulatory environment for digital assets could emerge following Donald Trump’s election victory.

BNB, the native token of the Binance-associated BNB Chain, reached a new all-time high on Wednesday, joining the ranks of large-cap cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), and Tron (TRX) that have recently posted fresh records. BNB soared to a high of $793 before retracing slightly, surpassing the key resistance zone of $700-$720 that had held for over three years. The token was last trading at $730, up 14% in the last 24 hours, outperforming Bitcoin’s modest 0.4% rise and the broader CoinDesk 20 Index, which gained 2.7%.

This price action comes as Bitcoin struggles to break the psychological $100,000 barrier, prompting traders to rotate capital into altcoins, seeking greater returns. Older cryptocurrencies, including Ripple’s XRP and TRX, have been among the biggest gainers over the past month, driven by the market’s anticipation of a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment under Trump.

BNB was launched by Binance in 2017 and powers the BNB Chain, previously known as Binance Smart Chain. The token is used to pay for transaction fees and offers discounts on trading costs within the Binance exchange ecosystem. Despite its utility, BNB struggled throughout much of 2023, trading around $200 due to the regulatory pressure on Binance. However, with the resolution of some of these issues, particularly following the release of Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao from prison in September, the outlook for BNB has improved. Binance has also strengthened its compliance operations in response to regulatory challenges.

BNB’s recent gains are also supported by Binance’s quarterly token burning process, which reduces the supply of BNB tokens based on network activity. In the most recent burn, Binance destroyed more than 1.7 million BNB tokens, valued at $1.07 billion at the time.

In addition to price gains, user activity within the BNB Chain ecosystem has surged. According to data from Artemis.xyz, both daily active addresses and transaction volumes have reached their highest levels in at least three months, indicating growing participation in the BNB Chain network.