BNB market cap surpasses $165 billion…Strength continues on institutional buying and ecosystem expansion

Binance ecosystem's native token BNB hit an all-time high, pushing its market capitalization past $165 billion. It has shown the strongest upswing among large altcoins and is emerging as a market-leading asset for the fourth quarter.

BNB's recent rally is attributed to a combination of increased trading fee revenue, inflows of institutional buying, and rising network activity. On the 14th (local time), ZyCrypto reported that market analyst DaanCrypto said, "BNB's strength is a sign that market structure is healthy," adding, "When large assets move first, funds tend to rotate into small- and mid-cap assets afterward." Another analysis account, SLTP_trade, also projected, "If Bitcoin stabilizes and Ethereum continues its uptrend, BNB could be the signal that ushers in an 'alt season.'"

Expanding institutional demand is also supporting the rally. Kazakhstan recently launched the state-owned digital asset fund 'Alem Crypto Fund' and said it purchased BNB as its first managed asset. The fund is managed by the Qazaqstan Venture Group under the Astana International Financial Centre and aims to build national-level digital asset infrastructure and hold cryptocurrencies long-term.

Binance and Kazakhstan have maintained a cooperative relationship since 2022, with Binance supporting the establishment of the local regulatory framework at that time. This BNB purchase was made immediately after Kazakhstan issued the fiat-linked stablecoin 'KZTE.'

According to CoinMarketCap data, BNB has risen from an initial price of $0.1096 to the current $1,370, an increase of about more than 1,000,000%. However, on-chain activity has still not returned to its peak. According to CoinGecko, the BNB Chain's total value locked (TVL) is $8.8 billion, active addresses total 2.4 million, and daily transactions are 16.1 million.

Market experts say BNB's strength is a "structural rise based on restored ecosystem trust and inflows of institutional funds," not a short-term overheating, and they assess that there is ample room for additional upside if network utilization increases in the future.