Binance pledges to burn its entire team allocation of BNB, over $2 billion to be burned

The world's leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance pledged to burn its entire team allocation of BNB, a token representing pseudo-equity in the exchange, which provides 'dividends' through burn appreciation and additional value in the Binance ecosystem.

The move is unprecedented, with the exchange burning $2.5 billion in tokens at current prices.

Binance will burn 80 million BNB worth $2.5 billion.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced in his latest AMA that his company will burn its entire allocation of BNB. Binance initially generated 200 million BNB during its ICO, with 40 percent of those tokens allocated to the team-80 million BNB. At current prices these tokens are valued at $2.5 billion.

"Everything considered, we want to give back more to the community and we also think that's best for the BNB token. At this stage, we want to increase the utility of the token and have more people use it, than just say we want to increase the revenue for Binance.com," said Zhao in the AMA. The team unanimously supported the decision, said CZ, "That shows that Binance is here for a mission, we're not here for money. I think that should boost the confidence of our community."

The burn would put the dominant exchange's position closer to other crypto-projects without pre-mines or initial token allotments, a point of contention for many in the crypto-community who allege companies which have large initial allotments care more about enriching themselves at the expense of holders.

Ripple owns 55 billion of the XRP tokens some of its founders created-worth $19 billion at current prices-diluting holder value by $535 million through market sales over the course of 2018.

Even though the team no longer will hold tokens, Zhao asserts the incentives between users and the exchange will still remain well aligned.

Binance will still be one of the largest holders of BNB, the difference is that any tokens the exchange owns will have been earned through it services or purchased from holders directly.

Binance will continue its 25 percent fee discount for trading on Binance.com when using BNB to pay for trading fees.