Binance has just announced that the ERC20 Binance Coin (BNB) token will be swapped to its own Binance Chain mainnet on April 23, 2019. The function of the coin will remain unchanged.

After being an ERC20 token for over a year and a half, Binance Coin (BNB) will officially be moving to its own mainnet. Binance made the news on its community forums.

The news resulted in a significant rally for the token, which reduces fees on the largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Binance Coin Token Swap: How It Will Work

On April 18, 2019, all the pre-selected validators will go online and the consensus for the genesis block will commence. The Binance Chain will then officially be born with a total initial supply of 200,000,000 BNB.

The swap will take place starting on April 23, 2019, at the earliest. If everything goes as planned, users will then be provided a Binance Chain address for BNB withdrawal requests. The withdrawal will allow users to convert ERC20 BNB tokens into BEP2 BNB tokens — which are native to the Binance Chain.

If users want to keep their ERC20 BNB tokens for whatever reason, they can do so if they withdraw their BNB from Binance to their Ethereum wallet before 2AM UTC on April 23. However, they should note that the ERC20 tokens will have no function after the cutoff date.

After April 23, Binance will support the deposit of ERC20 BNB tokens for conversions for the foreseeable future. However, it is highly encouraged to do so within 90 days.

Another Step Forward for Binance

The Binance migration has been highly anticipated all year. With the Binance decentralized exchange still in the works, the entire Binance platform will soon be moving to the Binance Chain — if the token swap goes well. Being the largest exchange in the cryptocurrency space, the move will be a major event in the industry.

Do you think Binance Chain will end up being a crucial part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem? Let us know your thoughts below.