Binance is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world: Shutterstock.

Crypto exchange Binance's own blockchain platform Binance Chain is set to add smart contracts according to a new white paper. In the release, the company proposed a blockchain that will run in parallel to the chain, with smart contract functionality.

Smart contracts allow more complicated transactions to take place on a blockchain. They can be used to run decentralized applications (dapps). Ethereum was the first blockchain platform to fully support smart contracts.

Binance Chain is a distributed, but not very decentralized blockchain largely run by Binance. It has a high-throughput or highly performant matching engine as Binance calls it, which enables it to support a large number of transactions. However, it doesn't currently have the flexibility to support more complicated applications.