BNB Smart Chain

BNB Chain's **Good Vibes Only: OpenClaw Edition** hackathon has attracted over 200 developers building AI-powered blockchain applications. The competition offers **$100,000 in prizes**. **Projects being developed include:** - AI agents that autonomously trade and manage DeFi strategies - Wallet security bots providing 24/7 onchain monitoring - Natural language tools converting plain text into blockchain actions - Agent frameworks that observe, decide, and execute onchain operations - AI-native marketplaces for autonomous agents and data - Consumer applications powered by AI agents rather than traditional interfaces The hackathon focuses on AI agent development within the BNB Chain ecosystem, with participants building tools that bridge artificial intelligence and blockchain functionality. [Learn more and register](https://www.bnbchain.org/en/blog/win-a-share-of-100k-with-good-vibes-only-openclaw-edition)

BNB Chain has implemented **ERC-8004**, a new standard designed to solve the identity problem for AI agents. **The core issue:** AI tools often feel unreliable because they reset, lose context, or behave inconsistently. Users struggle to trust agents without knowing their history or performance. **The solution:** ERC-8004 provides agents with: - Verifiable identity that persists across sessions - A trackable record of behavior and performance - Practical implementation that's cheap, fast, and scalable for daily use This approach shifts the focus from infrastructure challenges to identity verification, allowing users to check an agent's track record rather than guess at its reliability. [Read the full details on BNB Chain's blog](https://www.bnbchain.org/en/blog/making-agent-identity-practical-with-erc-8004-on-bnb-chain)

**Registration deadline today** for BNB Chain's Local Hack event in Bengaluru. **Prize pool and support:** - $160,000 in cash prizes - Access to YZi Labs' $1B Builder Fund - Ecosystem support and mentorship - Incubation opportunities Builders can compete in four focus areas: - Prediction markets - Token launchpads - Smart collateral for Web3 credit and BNPL - Privacy solutions **Event schedule:** - Orientation and team formation: February 15 - In-person hacking: February 27-28 in Bengaluru [Register here](https://x.com/BNBCHAIN/status/2021519854453370975?s=20)

**Application deadline approaching for Bengaluru hackathon** The registration window for the Local Hack event in Bengaluru, India closes on February 15th. Interested participants have less than 48 hours remaining to submit their applications. **Event highlights:** - 4-day in-person hacking session - One-on-one mentoring and workshops - Wellness activities included - $70,000 prize pool - Focus on building onchain solutions This follows the Open Hacker House format previously announced in August 2025. The event provides developers an opportunity to work on blockchain projects with direct mentorship support. [Apply now](http://lu.ma/openhousehack-india)

BNB Chain has extended its zero-fee promotion for stablecoin transactions across its network. **Key Details:** - Users can transfer, withdraw, and bridge USDC, U, and USD1 without paying transaction fees - Available on BSC and opBNB networks (availability depends on partner support) - This extends a previous promotion that included USDT, USDC, and FDUSD The initiative aims to reduce friction for stablecoin users on BNB Chain's infrastructure. Fee waivers apply to specific partner platforms participating in the program. Full program details and participating partners: [BNB Chain Blog](https://www.bnbchain.org/en/blog/the-carnival-continues-0-fee-transactions-for-usdc-usd1-u-extended)

BNB Chain demonstrated solid performance throughout 2025, according to Messari's Q4 report. The blockchain showed measurable growth across several key areas: - **Real usage expansion** across DeFi, real-world assets (RWAs), and payment applications - **Institutional capital** flowing into the ecosystem - **Infrastructure scaling** to support sustained onchain activity The data from Messari indicates BNB Chain closed the year with strong fundamentals and clear traction in core sectors. The network is positioning itself for continued growth as it enters 2026, with infrastructure improvements designed to handle long-term activity increases. The report highlights that BNB Chain's growth is driven by actual usage rather than speculation, with particular strength in decentralized finance applications, tokenized real-world assets, and payment solutions.

BNB Chain completed four major hardforks in 2025—Pascal, Lorentz, Maxwell, and Fermi—delivering substantial performance improvements. **Key Performance Metrics:** - Block time reduced from 3s to 0.45s - Finality decreased from 7.5s to 1.1s - Bandwidth more than doubled to 133M gas/sec - Gas prices dropped from 1 gwei to 0.05 gwei These upgrades represent a 6.7x speed increase and 98% fee reduction compared to 2023 levels. The improvements aim to position BNB Chain for increased scalability and adoption. The network has published its [2026 technical roadmap](https://www.bnbchain.org/en/blog/tech-roadmap-2026) outlining future development plans.

BNB Chain maintained its position as the **third-largest network by DeFi total value locked (TVL)** at the end of Q4. **Key Metrics:** - Total TVL reached **$6.6 billion** - Year-over-year growth of **23.6%** across the ecosystem - Sustained third-place ranking in the competitive DeFi landscape The network's TVL growth demonstrates continued adoption and capital deployment within BNB Chain's DeFi protocols. This follows Q1 2025's strong performance, which saw revenue increase 58.1% quarter-over-quarter to $70.8 million, driven by increased wallet-to-wallet activity. The 23.6% annual increase in TVL reflects steady ecosystem expansion despite broader market volatility affecting various blockchain networks.

Network usage showed strong momentum in Q4, with key metrics pointing to genuine user growth: - **Daily transactions** climbed to 17.3M, marking a 30.4% increase from the previous quarter - **Active addresses** rose 13.3% to reach 2.6M daily users - Growth appears organic rather than speculation-driven, suggesting real utility adoption The sustained increase in both transaction volume and unique addresses indicates the network is attracting and retaining users beyond temporary market hype cycles. This quarter's performance builds on earlier trends, with transaction counts more than doubling since Q4 2024 when daily activity averaged 7.42M.

The stablecoin market on BNB Chain grew 9.2% quarter-over-quarter to reach $15.2 billion, with USDT and USDC leading the expansion. **Key Developments:** - Market growth driven by payment infrastructure rather than speculation - BNB Chain positioning itself as a settlement and payments layer - New partnerships including BPN Network integration - Launch of UTech Stables focusing on onchain payments **Focus Areas:** - Payment processing capabilities - Liquidity efficiency improvements - Cross-chain interoperability The growth reflects a shift toward practical applications of stablecoins in real-world transactions and settlements, moving away from purely speculative use cases.