Two-thirds of BNB supply in public hands, CZ owns less than 1%: YZi Labs

New data revealed that public holders dominate BNB distribution.

Blockchain analytics firm YZi Labs reported that ownership of Binance Coin (BNB) has “dispersed” widely across the network.

More tokens have moved to public self-custody and exchange wallets.

BNB Ownership Profile

According to the latest data from YZi Labs, approximately 66% to 67% of the total BNB supply is held by public participants, including exchange users and those in self-custody wallets. About 27% of the supply is controlled by the BNB Foundation, which maintains a burn reserve used for programmatic burning of tokens, a mechanism designed to reduce supply and gradually reinforce BNB’s deflationary model.

Meanwhile, Binance’s treasury represents around 4-5% of BNB in ​​circulation, which serves operational and custodial functions. Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao personally owns less than 1% of the total supply.

YZi Laboratories held that the largest labeled portfolios are primarily associated with operational, custodial or burning purposes, rather than control or speculative holdings. The company said this distribution structure suggests that BNB has become a transparent and widely owned asset, and that most of its supply is managed through open on-chain mechanisms rather than centralized ownership.

In terms of its price action, BNB primarily traded between $1,000 and $1,300 over the past month, and faced significant volatility but maintained a generally sideways trend. The token started the month near $1,008 and rose sharply in the first half of October to reach an all-time high above $1,300. However, this rally was followed by a steady correction as prices fell towards the $1,050 to $1,100 range.

Even as BNB struggles to regain its previous highs, the token’s exposure to US markets appears to be expanding as new financial instruments such as BNB digital asset treasuries (DATs), ETFs, and listings on major exchanges such as Robinhood and Coinbase provide indirect access to US-based participants.

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These developments allow investors to gain exposure to BNB using fiat currencies without direct purchases.

The return of CZ

In a related development, CZ recently received a “full and unconditional” pardon from US President Donald Trump, a move that many industry observers believe could ease certain regulatory restrictions for Binance tied to previous US government cases. However, the pardon quickly generated controversy.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren called the decision “corruption” and alleged that she had funded crypto companies linked to Trump before seeking clemency. CZ denied the allegations and clarified that there were no charges of money laundering, only a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, and accused Warren of spreading misinformation. He also suggested that political bias under the Biden administration had influenced his prosecution.