BNB Reaches $850 Pushing Changpeng Zhao’s Token Hauls to an Estimated $75 Billion

Binance Coin (BNB) broke through $850.70 in early UTC trading on 28 July, surpassing its previous record and extending a relentless rally that has added 12 % over the past week and more than 45 % quarter-to-date. Forensic estimates by Nansen and Forbes suggest former Binance chief executive Changpeng “CZ” Zhao controls approximately 89.1 million BNB—about 64 % of the circulating 139.3 million supply—giving his personal token holdings a paper value of $75.8 billion at the new peak. Combined with a 90 % equity stake in Binance, the appreciation propels Zhao toward the global top-20 wealth rankings, ahead of industrial heiress Julia Koch. Analysts at Kronos Research attribute the surge to multiple converging tailwinds. Total value locked on BNB Chain climbed to a year-to-date high of $15.2 billion, driven by yield campaigns on Venus and liquid-staking protocol Stader. BNB-denominated stablecoin market cap expanded by $2.3 billion in July, signalling fresh capital inflows. PancakeSwap, the network’s flagship DEX, recorded $9.1 billion in weekly volume, its highest level since 2022. Meanwhile, Binance’s quarterly burn on 15 July removed 1.8 million tokens—worth $1.5 billion—from circulation, reinforcing a deflationary narrative. Whale behaviour has magnified upside pressure. Chinese semiconductor outfit Nano Labs confirmed it is executing a multiyear plan to place up to 10 % of circulating BNB—14 million tokens—on its balance sheet as a long-term strategic reserve. Komodo CTO Kadan Stadelmann told Cointelegraph that supply concentration can accelerate price movements on proof-of-stake chains where governance weight aligns with token holdings. Regulatory overhang remains. Zhao is serving a four-month sentence at a low-security US facility after pleading guilty to anti-money-laundering violations last November, and the Securities and Exchange Commission continues to investigate whether BNB constitutes an unregistered security. However, investor sentiment has so far shrugged off legal risks amid expectations that Binance’s Maxwell hard-fork upgrade on 30 June will improve block-finality times and validator coordination, making the chain more attractive to institutional DeFi projects. Going forward, observers say sustained treasury demand, steady network-usage metrics and continued token burns are required to maintain momentum. Any sharp reversal in broader crypto markets or fresh enforcement action could test the durability of BNB’s breakout, but for now the token’s climb underscores how coordinated on-chain economics and corporate accumulation can reshape wealth rankings in the digital-asset era.