BEP2 Tokens are Native to the BNB Beacon Chain, while BEP20 Tokens are Native to the BNB Smart Chain
Binance is the world’s largest centralized crypto exchange by volume, with a trading volume of $9.5 trillion in 2021, representing 67% of centralized exchange volume for that year. Binance operates two blockchains, Binance Chain (now BNB Beacon Chain) and Binance Smart Chain (now rebranded to BNB Smart Chain). The native token standard for Binance Chain is BEP2, while the native token standard for Binance Smart Chain is BEP-20. Binance’s native currency, BNB, is a BEP2 token.
In this article, we’ll review the differences between BEP2 and BEP20 tokens, their different uses, how they compare to Ethereum ERC-20 tokens, BEP2 and BEP20 gas fees, how to bridge tokens to BNB Smart Chain using a Binance Bridge, and how to use these tokens with major wallets like MetaMask and Trust Wallet.
Before getting deeper into the difference between BEP2 and BEP20 tokens, we should take a moment to discuss the blockchains upon which they operate; Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain.
Binance’s first blockchain, Binance Chain, was launched in April 2019 and was created to support the exchange of a variety of crypto assets. Binance Chain supports the Binance DEX, which is powered by Binance’s native currency, BNB. The Binance DEX was designed to provide lower fees and better security than centralized exchanges because it’s non-custodial and does not hold a user’s assets.
In February 2022, Binance Chain rebranded to BNB Beacon Chain. BNB Beacon Chain is used for Binance’s on-chain staking and governance. BNB Beacon Chain has 11 validators, which makes it relatively centralized.
BNB Beacon Chain is the fork of the Cosmos SDK (software development kit) and uses Cosmos’s Business Tendermint (BFT) mechanism as well as the Proof of Stock (PoS) consensus mechanism. Cosmos is “a decentralized network of independent parallel blockchains which makes it easy for developers to create unique, secure blockchains by taking advantage of a series of pre-set software development tools.
Binance’s second blockchain, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which was recently rebranded to BNB Smart Chain, was launched by Binance in September 2020. BNB Smart Chain is Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible, so it shares the same address format as Ethereum addresses. Therefore users can accidentally send BEP20 tokens to an Ethereum address since they share the same address format.
The main difference between BNB Smart Chain and the Ethereum blockchain is that, instead of proof-of-work, BNB Smart Chain uses a unique proof-of-stake consensus mechanism called Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA). BNB Smart Chain has significantly faster transaction times and lower fees than Ethereum.
BNB Smart Chain’s set of validators resets daily based on the voting power of each validator, which is determined by the delegation of staked BNB tokens. However, there are still significant centralization concerns with the BNB Smart Chain blockchain, as it only has 21 active validators at any one time. The set of validators is decided each day by the BNB Beacon Chain, which, as previously mentioned, uses only 11 validators.
As of June 2022, there was more than $6.5 billion of TVL (total value locked) in BNB Smart Chain, down from an all-time high of $31.7 billion in May 2021, during the initial weeks of a period many call “DeFi Summer.” BNB Smart Chain currently hosts a wide variety of dApps, including
The rebranding of the Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain blockchains was intended to shift the chain’s branding away from Binance itself and support (at least conceptually) the idea of the further decentralization of both of these blockchains. According to Binance’s CEO Chanpeng Zhao, “BNB” stands for “Build ’N Build.” Zhao recently tweeted that “BNB stands for “Build the community, and let the community build, build, ’n build.”
BEP2 vs. BEP20 vs. ERC-20
BEP2 is the token standard for Binance’s native currency, BNB coin, on Binance’s centralized exchange and Binance DEX, its decentralized exchange. As a unique token standard, BEP2 is not compatible with blockchains other than Binance.
BNB in the BEP2 format can only be used as a transaction fee on both Binance cryptocurrency exchanges. Despite this, BEP-20 BNB can be converted into BEP20 uses on other dApps on the BNB Smart Chain.
In contrast, to BEP2, BEP20 is the Default token for the BNB Smart Chain. BEP20 tokens follow the Ethereum ERC-20 token standard, making them Ethereum smart-contract compatible.
ERC-20 is the primary fungible token standard on the Ethereum blockchain. It is used by popular crypto coins and tokens, including the world’s largest stablecoin, Tether (UDST). Other well-known projects using ERC-20 tokens include Shiba Inu (SHIB), 0X (ZRX), Maker Maker (MKR), and Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC). There are more than 500,000 ERC-20 token projects on the Etheruem blockchain.
To use Bitcoin, ERC-20 tokens, or TRC-20 (TRON) tokens on either the Binance DEX on the BNB Beacon Chain or to interact with dApps on the BNB Smart Chain, you will need to bridge your coins or tokens onto the chain you wish to use them on, using a cross-chain Binance Bridge. We’ll discuss more regarding Binance bridging and how to bridge your tokens to these twin blockchains later in this article.
BEP2 vs. BEP20 Fees and BEP20 Gas Fees
Both BEP2 and BEP20 tokens have extremely low gas fees, particularly compared to gas fees on the Ethereum network. While the gas fees for ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain hovered around $50+ per transaction during 2022 (often spiking to hundreds of dollars per transaction at times of high network congestion), the gas fees for BEP20 tokens have generally been a few cents, and, as of June 2022, sat at a small fraction of a cent. For example, in June 2022, the average gas fee for BEP20 tokens on the BNB Smart Chain was a little more than 7 Gwei, or around $0.00001788. For context, during this period, Etheruem gas fees also fell and, as of June 2022, hovered between $1-2.
Binance Coin (BNB): Binance Coin (BNB) is Binance’s native cryptocurrency and was the first BEP2 token created.
BEP2 USDD (USDD): USDD is the TRON blockchain’s native stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. It is an overcollateralized stablecoin currently backed by TRX (TRON’s native currency) and Bitcoin.
BEP2 THORChain (RUNE): THORChain (RUNE) is the native token of THORChain, a decentralized liquidity protocol. THORChain enables users to exchange a variety of native layer-1 assets (including BTC) by acting as a vault manager. It utilizes Tendermint and Cosmos-SDK for network security.
BEP2 PancakeSwap (CAKE): PancakeSwap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that operates natively on the BNB Beacon Chain. It shares significant similarities with other DEXs like SushiSwap and Uniswap.
STEPN (GMT): STEPN (GMT) is the token of Stepn, a “move-to-earn” exercise-based dApp native to the Solana blockchain.
Trust Wallet Token (TWT): Trust Wallet Token (TWT) is the native token of Trust Wallet, a popular non-custodial wallet that we mentioned earlier in this article.
Ellipsis (EPS): Ellipsis (EPS) is the native token of the Ellipsis platform, a token swapping and DEX platform on the BNB Beacon Chain. EPS stakers, who provide liquidity to the exchange, receive 50% of all swap fees.
Coin98 (C98): Coin98 (C98) is the native token of the
Coin98 protocol. The Coin98 token is the native token of the Coin98 platform, which includes a DEX, a unique wallet, a crypto portfolio tracker, and other products. The Coin98 token pulls liquidity from a variety of DEXs, allowing users to engage in a variety of crypto activities, including borrowing, lending, and yield farming.
Bitcoin BEP2 (BTCB): Bitcoin BEP2 (BTCB) is Bitcoin bridged to the BNB Beacon Chain.
Chain (XCN): Chain (XCN) is the native token of Chain, a company that provides Web3 and Blockchain cloud infrastructure via its products Chain Cloud and Sequence.
Binance-Peg Ethereum (ETH): ETH on the BNB Smart Chain network.
Binance-Peg BSC-USD (BSC-USD): Binance-Peg BSC-USD (BSC-USD) is a stablecoin created using It utilizes a basket of fiat-pegged stablecoins, algorithmically stabilized by its reserve currency USDT, to facilitate programmable payments and open financial infrastructure development.
Binance-Peg USD Coin (USDC): USDC on the BNB Smart Chain network.
Wrapped BNB (WBNB): Since BNB is a BEP2 token, it must be wrapped to operate on the BNB Smart Chain network.
Binance-Peg Cardano Token (ADA): Cardano (ADA) on the BNB Smart Chain network.
Binance-Peg (BUSD) BUSD is a 1:1 U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Paxos and Binance on the Ethereum blockchain. It is approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
Binance-Peg XRP (XRP): Ripple (XRP) is a cryptocurrency used for enterprise collateral settlements. Binance-Peg XRP is XRP on the BNB Smart Chain network.
Binance-Peg (DAI): DAI is the world’s largest decentralized stablecoin by market cap. It is an overcollateralized stablecoin generated via the MakerDAO ecosystem. Binance-Peg DAI is DAI on the BNB Smart Chain network.
Binance-Peg Polkadot (DOT): Polkadot (DOT) is the currency of the Polkadot network, a blockchain of interconnected blockchains. Binance-Peg DOT is DOT on the BNB Smart Chain network.
Pancake Swap: As previously mentioned, PancakeSwap is a DEX operating natively on the BNB Beacon Chain. It is quite similar to other decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap or SushiSwap. S
Biswap: Biswap is a DEX on the BNB Smart Chain that claims to boast the lowest fees in the industry at just 0.1% per swap.
Era7a: Game of Truth: Era7: Game of Truth is a mythology and magic-themed play-to-earn game with in-game NFT trading cards and a token that can be earned via gameplay. It also allows integration with NFTs and offers a yield farming program.
Alpaca Finance: Alpaca Finance is a leveraged yield farming dApp built on the BNB Smart Chain, offering lending, staking, and a native token designed to be deflationary.
Venus Protocol: Venus is a protocol and ecosystem that supports VAI, a decentralized stablecoin collateralized by a basket of stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies. Users can stake the VAI, with APYs fluctuating based on organic market demand. Earned interest can be utilized to borrow other cryptocurrencies or to mint VAI.
XWorld Games: X World Games is a decentralized gaming ecosystem built on the BNB Smart Chain blockchain.
Cream Finance: Cream Finance, also known as C.R.E.A.M. Finance (which stands for “Crypto Rules Everything Around Me” is a platform that includes a DEX and derivatives trading platform as well as decentralized borrowing and lending, asset tokenization, and market-making services.
MOBOX NFT Farmer: Mobox is an NFT gaming ecosystem that operates on the BNB Smart Chain blockchain. The free-to-play, play-to-earn platform combines DeFi crop cultivation with NFT gaming and NFT yield farming.
ApeSwap: ApeSwap is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) that offers a variety of DeFi tools, including staking farms, borrowing tools, lending tools, and a unique platform to stake NFTs.
1Inch Network BSC: The 1Inch Network is a DeFi liquidity aggregator which helps users find the best token swap rates on various DEXs. Specialized features include partial order filling and a unique gas token designed to reduce swap fees.
The Top BEP2 Wallets
Because BEP2 tokens only function on the BNB Beacon Chain, you cannot add them to MetaMask or many other popular wallets. However, a few wallets do accept them. All of the wallets below that are compatible with BEP2 tokens are also compatible with BEP20 tokens.
Binance Chain Wallet: According to Binance, “Binance Chain Wallet is the official Binance cryptocurrency wallet for accessing Binance Smart Chain, Binance Chain, and Ethereum.” It’s compatible with BEP2, BEP20, and ERC-20 tokens and has an easy-to-use mobile app.
D’CENT wallet: The D’CENT wallet offers biometric hardware wallets and a desktop and mobile wallet. It also provides a “tap to verify’ credit card-shaped wallet It supports a wide variety of assets and is compatible with Bitcoin, ETH, RSK Smart Bitcoin, Klatyn, XRP, Monacoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Cash ABC, eCash, ZCash, and more than 27,000 other coins and tokens.
Trust Wallet: The Trust Wallet is a trendy wallet with both a desktop and mobile app. It provides integration with over 4.5 million coins and tokens, making it one of the most versatile wallets on the market today. In addition to BEP2 and BEP20 tokens support, it allows you to swap your BEP2 tokens for BEP20 tokens for use on the BNB Smart Chain and Etheruem blockchains.
SafePal S1 Wallet: The SafePal S1 Wallet is a hardware wallet known for its built-in security and anti-hacking features. The wallet is incredibly secure because it operates totally offline. Instead of using an internet connection, it uses encrypted QR codes and prohibits access via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or radio frequencies, keeping a user’s private keys extremely safe. The SafePal Wallet is compatible with BEP2 tokens, BNB Coins, ETH-20 tokens, and more than 1000 other coins and tokens. Bitcoin, BEP2, VEN, Ethereum, and BNB coins.
Ellipal Titan: The Ellipal Titan wallet is a larger, smartphone-sized “big-screen” hardware wallet that supports both Android and iOS devices. The Ellipal Titan wallet is air-gapped, as it only uses QR activation codes and does not connect to Bluetooth or WiFi. Unlike many wallets, it has a self-destruct anti-tamper mechanism to protect the wallet from physical hacking. After a wallet has self-destructed, the owner will still be able to retrieve their funds using their seed recovery phrase. In addition to BEP2, BEP20, and ERC-20 tokens, the Ellipal Titan also supports TRON TRC-20 tokens.
TokenPocket Wallet: TokenPocket is a cross-chain crypto wallet that supports Bitcoin, Ethereum ERC-20 tokens, BEP2 tokens, BEP-20 tokens, TRON TRC-20 tokens, and as tokens on the Avalanche, EOS, Polkadot, and Cosmos blockchains, among many others.
In contrast to BEP2 tokens, BEP20 tokens are compatible with quite a few ERC-20 compatible wallets, the most popular of which is Metamask.
The Top BEP20 Wallets
In addition to the BEP2 and BEP20-compatible wallets mentioned above, some of the best BEP20 wallets (which are, unfortunately, not BEP2-compatible) include:
MetaMask: MetaMask is the world’s most popular non-custodial crypto wallet, with an average of more than 30 million monthly active users. The MetaMask wallet can integrate with more than 400,000 tokens and integrates with BNB Smart Chain, Ethereum, and several prominent Ethereum Layer-2s, including Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism. The main drawbacks of MetaMask are that it does not store Bitcoin or Bitcoin-based cryptocurrencies (only wBTC and other wrapped Bitcoin-based cryptos) and that it has limited customer service.
Ledger Nano X: The Ledger Nano X is one of the world’s most popular hardware crypto wallets, and, unlike many wallets, it’s compatible with Linux (in addition to Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS). The Ledger Nano X starts at $149 and supports over 1,800 coins and tokens, including BEP-20 tokens and Ethereum ERC-20 tokens, as well as XRP and Monero. Ledger also offers a less expensive but similar hardware wallet, the Ledger Nano S, which starts at just $79. Both wallets connect to computers via USB and have easy-to-read touchscreens.
Math Wallet: Math Wallet is another popular crypto wallet that integrates with coins from 50+ blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, TRON, Polkadot, Avalanche, VeChain, EOS, and Solana, and over 3,000 tokens.
UsingBinance Bridge to Bridge ERC-20 Tokens, BEP2 Bridged Tokens, and BTBC Tokens
As we mentioned earlier in this article, to trade on the Binance DEX, you will need to bridge or “wrap” your tokens to make them “wrapped” BEP2 tokens on the BNB Beacon Chain utilizing the Binance Bridge. As we also mentioned, one of the most popular BEP2 wrapped token is BEP20 Bitcoin (BTCB), though there are various other popular BEP2 bridged tokens.
You can also wrap tokens and bridge them onto the BNB Smart Chain to utilize all the dApps on that blockchain. Bitcoin, ERC-20, and TRC-20 (TRON) tokens can be bridged to either the BNB Beacon Chain or the BNB Smart Chain.
Below, we’ll show you how to bridge tokens (in this case, UDST) onto the BNB Smart Chain from Ethereum using your MetaMask Wallet. If you don’t want to bridge, you can directly buy wrapped tokens on BEP2 or BEP20 wrapped tokens on Binance or Binance US.
There are two major bridges, Celer cBridge, and Any Swap, though we’ll use Celer cBridge in the example below. Note that you will need some ETH in your wallet to pay for gas fees when you bridge from Ethereum to Metamask.
Open the Celer cBridge athttps://cbridge.celer.network/#/transfer. Select Ethereum as your current chain and BNB Chain as your destination. It may not allow you to change or select the destination until you have connected your wallet, which we show in the next step.
Click “Connect Wallet” and Choose Your MetaMask Wallet.
Choose the Asset and Amount You Want to Bridge. As you can see, in this example, we are bridging USDT to the BNB Smart Chain.
Confirm Your Transfer on Celer cBridge.
Confirm The Transaction on MetaMask.
The Bridged UDST should now appear in your MetaMask wallet when you are on Binance Smart Chain but will no longer appear when you have it set to the Ethereum mainnet network. Celer cBridge does charge a fee for the asset you are bridging.
Swapping BEP20 Tokens on MetaMask
In this section, we’ll review how to send and swap BEP20 tokens on the popular MetaMask wallet. If you don’t already have a MetaMask wallet, you can easily download the application free from the MetaMask website, the Google Play Store, or the Apple App Store. You will then need to set your password and store your private key and your mnemonic backup phrase in a secure, offline location.
If you are located in the U.S., you can purchase BNB Coin and other BEP20 tokens from exchanges like Binance.US or Crypto.com (there are more options for non-U.S. residents, but we won’t go over them here). As we previously discussed, you can also use a Binance Bridge to bridge your tokens (like UDST) and swap them for other Binance-bridged coins. In this example, we swap Binance-bridged (BEP20) UDST to BNB. However, as you’ll see, you do need a bit of BNB to use as gas, so don’t swap it all at once if you want to make more than one swap without buying more!
Set Your MetaMask Network to Binance Smart Chain: Go to the top right of your page to the “Networks” button and click “Add Network.” In the above screenshot, the Binance Smart Chain network is already an option, but if you already haven’t set it up manually, you will need to do so, as we detail in the next step.
Enter in the BSC Network Information: The network information you will need to enter is as follows:
Save: Click “Save”: Your wallet Network should now be set to “Smart Chain”.
Transfer BEP20 Tokens To Your Wallet (Or Swap For Them).
Click Swap.
Click “Review Swap.”
8. Click “Swap” again.
9. Click “Close.”
10. You should now see your new BNB balance in your MetaMask wallet.
Finding Your BEP20 Address in MetaMask
Fortunately, your BEP20 address is the same as your Etheruem address. In the Metamask wallet, you can find your public address by clicking on the “Account” button at the top of your wallet screen area.
How to Find BEP20 Address in Trust Wallet
Open Your Trust Wallet. If you haven’t already downloaded Trust Wallet, you can check out this Trust Wallet installation guide to learn how.
Open The Top Search Bar to Make Sure BNB Smart Chain is Activated.
Click The Receive Button in The Top Section.
Your QR Code For Your BNB Smart Chain BEP20 Address Will Now Appear.
Click “Copy” to Discover and Copy Your BEP20 Address.
Finding Your BEP2 Address in Trust Wallet
In this section, we will use the example of Trust Wallet to show how you can find your BNB Beacon Chain BEP2 address. It involves nearly the same process as finding your BEP20 address. Keep in mind that all BEP2 addresses begin with “bnb,” so if you see an address that begins with something else, it is not a BEP2 address and anything you send there will likely be lost forever.
Open Your Trust Wallet. As we mentioned earlier, if you haven’t already downloaded Trust Wallet, you can check out this Trust Wallet installation guide to learn how.
Open The Top Search Bar to Make Sure BNB Beacon Chain is Activated.
Click The Receive Button in The Top Section.
Your QR Code For Your BEP2 Address Will Now Appear.
Click “Copy” to Discover and Copy Your BEP2 Address.
Using BscScan to Check Your BEP20 Transactions
If you want to check your BEP20 transactions, the best way is to use BscScan, a free BNB Smart Chain block explorer provided by the popular Ethereum block explorer Etherscan.
To do so, you can use your MetaMask wallet to check your BEP20 transactions or manually enter your wallet address into BscScan.
For example, in MetaMask, when your blockchain is set to BNB Smart Chain, you can click the three vertical buttons on the right side of your wallet and then click, as we show above.
You can then see a list of your transactions on BscScan.
FAQs
What Is Binance Smart Chain (Now BNB Beacon Chain)?
Binance Smart Chain (now BNB Smart Chain) is Binance’s second blockchain designed to host smart contracts and dApps.
What is Binance Chain (Now BNB Beacon Chain)?
Binance Chain (Now BNB Beacon Chain) was Binance’s first blockchain. It hosts the Binance decentralized exchange (DEX).
What is the Difference Between BEP2, BEP20, and ERC-20 Tokens?
BEP2 tokens are the native token standard of the Binance Chain (Now BNB Beacon Chain), while BEP20 tokens are the native token standard of the Binance Smart Chain (Now BNB Beacon Chain). ERC-20 tokens are the native token of the Ethereum blockchain.
Can BEP2 Tokens Be Used On Binance Smart Chain (Now BNB Smart Chain)?
Yes. You can bridge BEP2 tokens, such as Binance Coin (BNB) to Binance Smart Chain (Now BNB Smart Chain).
Can ERC-20 Tokens and Bitcoin Be Used OnThe Binance Smart Chain (Now BNB Smart Chain)?
Yes. You can also bridge ERC-20 tokens to Binance Smart Chain (Now BNB Smart Chain).
In Conclusion: BEP2 and BEP20 Tokens Both Serve a Valuable Purpose in the Binance Ecosystem
BEP2 and BEP20 tokens function as the core of the Binance ecosystem and are the critical tokens of the BNB Beacon Chain and BNB Smart Chain, respectively. While Binance’s two blockchains have gained widespread adoption, this dual system may be confusing and, some might say, overly complex. If Binance could start over, it might make more sense only to have one chain, the BNB Smart Chain, which is EVM compatible and allows for smart contract functionality.
Due to the complex nature of having two blockchains, eliminating or phasing out the BNB Beacon Chain could streamline the user experience. Despite this, getting rid of the BNB Beacon Chain and converting all BEP2 tokens to BEP20 tokens would be a logistical nightmare (if it is even possible). For now, Binance users will likely continue to use and interact with both the BEP2 and BEP20 token types– which is why it’s essential for new BNB Beacon Chain and BNB Smart Chain users to understand the critical differences between these tokens and the blockchains upon which they operate.