Binance has announced the much-anticipated launch of the testnet of Binance Chain and the decentralized exchange (DEX) built on top of it as Binance Coin (BNB) reached a new all-time high value trading against BTC.
Binance Chain Testnet is Now Live
In an official publication, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by means of traded volumes, announced that both Binance Chain and Binance DEX have entered their public testnet phase.
This allows users to create their very own wallets and to interact with the platform’s interface which, as Changpeng Zhao puts it, is very similar to the interface of the existing Binance exchange.
As promised earlier, the DEX has added support for hardware wallets. Users can install the Binance Chain app through Ledger Live in order to access the DEX testnet with the Ledger Nano S.
The DEX interface feels very similar to the Binance platform.
Binance has also revealed a blockchain explorer for the testnet of Binance Chain. Via the explorer, users can find information about blocks which are added to the network, wallet balances, as well as transactions which have taken place on the blockchain among other things.
How Decentralized Will it Really Be?
CEO ‘CZ’ Changpeng Zhao has more than once expressed his position on decentralization, outlining that it’s not safer ‘by default’ compared to centralized solutions. He also said ‘there is no absolute decentralization.’ So the DEX differs is a non-custodial exchange, but takes it a step further since the orders are matched by the blockchain and not the exchange.
Earlier this month, Bitcoinist reported on a live AMA of Binance’s CEO, where he outlined that, initially, the number of network consensus validators on the DEX is going to be small – starting with 11 validator nodes.
During the AMA, Zhao outlined that as the exchange goes live, they will be looking to select the nodes through their close partners. He also stated that Binance will have a lot of influence over the network, saying that the solution will be “more centralized” in comparison to other networks.
Additionally, Zhao also said that Binance DEX will charge “close to $100K” for listing new cryptocurrencies in an attempt to reduce the number of “spam or scam projects.”
Binance Coin (BNB) Pumping on The News
In anticipation for the testnet launch, BNB [coin_price coin=binance-coin] surged with over 13 percent in the last 24 hours.
The cryptocurrency has reached a new all-time high (ATH) value when trading against BTC.
Earlier this week, Binance said that BNB will be moved to the Binance Chain, converting it into a native asset. BNB is currently an ERC20-based token.
What do you think of Binance Chain and its DEX? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!
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