Investigation Reveals Surprising Figures
A recent investigation conducted by Forbes, in partnership with Gray Wolf Analytics and Inca Digital, sheds light on Binance’s initial coin offering (ICO) for BNB in 2017, suggesting that it fell far short of expectations.
The report indicates that Binance likely raised less than $5 million for its native token, BNB, through the ICO, a stark contrast to the amount previously announced on the exchange’s website. According to the analysis, investors received approximately 10.78 million BNB, while an additional 20 million BNB were transferred to angel investors.
Possible Holding of Undistributed Tokens
Forbes speculates that Binance might have retained the undistributed tokens, although this seems unlikely due to investors’ hesitation to keep their assets on an “unestablished” exchange.
Initially, Binance promoted BNB as a means to receive discounts on the exchange, possibly incentivizing investors to store the tokens in Binance’s wallets.
Control Over Token Supply
The report raises concerns about Binance’s control over the token supply, revealing that as of August 31, 2023, Binance controlled nearly 117 million tokens, constituting 76% of the total outstanding supply. Although the exact methodology used by Forbes remains unclear, the report suggests that the analysis combined disclosed tokens issued to the founding team with a proprietary probabilistic analysis.
According to Inca Digital CEO Adam Zarazinski, it is believed that less than half of the 120 million tokens were distributed, circulating among multiple wallets, presumably under Binance’s control.
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