CZ appears at Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony — what is BNC?
On October 26, CZ @cz_binance appeared at Nasdaq, joining the management of BNB Standard (ticker: BNC) for the bell-ringing ceremony.
A year ago, BNC became a star project in the crypto-equity boom thanks to a funding plan worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But since then, the company has experienced a share price decline, governance disputes, and a board restructuring. Now, it has not only changed its name but also welcomed a new CEO from YZi Labs, and begun exploring a new direction.
Taking this bell-ringing as an occasion, let's review what BNC has gone through over the past year. Where is BNC headed after the bell-ringing?
1. BNC's Journey
BNC's story begins in July 2025.
At the time, it was still a U.S.-listed company operating an e-cigarette business. With the support of YZi Labs @yzilabs, the company announced a partnership with 10X Capital to launch a funding plan of approximately $500 million, transforming into a BNB treasury company, and changed its ticker from VAPE to BNC, briefly becoming a star project in the crypto-equity boom.
But the story did not unfold as expected. What many people do not know is that during the year BNC gradually faded from the market's view, a battle for control of the company actually took place.
As the share price fell from its peak, tensions between YZi Labs and 10X Capital, which was responsible for asset management, gradually became public. According to SEC filings, the two parties had previously signed an asset management agreement lasting 20 years with an annual management fee rate of 1.75%.
YZi Labs believed the management fees were too high and that there were problems with corporate governance, and had accused the original management team of considering abandoning the BNB treasury strategy in favor of other assets such as SOL. The disagreements continued to escalate, eventually turning into a boardroom battle.
In May 2026, BNC even took 10X Capital to court, seeking to invalidate the asset management agreement and recover related fees.
The turning point came in June this year. BNC reached a governance cooperation agreement with YZi Labs, and three people, including YZi Labs head Ella Zhang @ellazhang516 and former investment partner Alex Odagiu, joined the board. Subsequently, Alex formally took over as CEO, the company was renamed BNB Standard, and it announced plans to operate a BNB Chain validator node, attempting to shift from simply holding BNB to deeper participation in ecosystem operations.
After going through a series of changes from the crypto-equity boom to governance disputes and then management restructuring, BNC finally ushered in a new stage of development this October. On October 26, CZ appeared at Nasdaq for the bell-ringing, writing a new chapter in this transformation story that has lasted more than a year.
2. From YZi Labs Investment Partner to BNC CEO: Who Is Alex?
In BNC's governance adjustment that lasted for months, the new CEO Alex Odagiu @odagius is a figure worth noting.
Alex Odagiu graduated from the University of St Andrews in the UK. He worked early in his career in Goldman Sachs' Investment Banking Division, and later joined technology investment firm LetterOne. In 2021, he joined the Binance Labs investment team, which then had only about five people, rose through the ranks from investment manager, and became an investment partner at YZi Labs in 2025.
During his five years at YZi Labs, Alex was mainly responsible for token, equity, and strategic investments, and participated in investments in well-known projects such as Aptos, Sui developer Mysten Labs, Canton, Hemi, and Concrete, covering DeFi, RWA, stablecoins, and blockchain infrastructure.
In addition to investing, he served as a mentor and judge for the BNB Chain MVB accelerator for 10 consecutive seasons, drove investments in ecosystem projects such as Avalon and Aspecta, and participated in YZi Labs' EASY Residency startup incubation program.
Interestingly, Alex did not first become involved with BNC only this year. As early as 2025, he participated in BNC's governance discussions and was recommended by YZi Labs at the end of that year to serve as interim CEO, but did not receive support from the original board at the time. It was not until the two sides reached a governance cooperation agreement in June this year that he joined the board and served as interim president, and then formally took over as CEO in October.
From participating in BNC's governance discussions to formally taking over the company, Alex spent nearly a year. In the past, he was mainly responsible for investing in and incubating projects; now he must directly face the operations of a listed company and shareholder returns.
3. What Is BNC's Next Step After the Bell-Ringing?
On October 19, when Alex Odagiu formally took over as CEO, he put forward two goals: first, to increase the amount of BNB per share; second, to build actual business on BNB Chain, starting with operating a validator node.
First, how else can BNC increase its BNB holdings?
Last year, BNC adopted the most common approach in crypto-equity companies: issuing shares to institutional investors to raise funds, then using the proceeds to buy BNB.
In August 2025, BNC completed a private placement of approximately $500 million, then quickly built up a treasury of more than 510,000 BNB, becoming the world's largest BNB holder among listed companies.
Second, how can the BNB it holds generate income on its own?
BNC chose to start by operating a BNB Chain validator node. According to the official plan, the company will bring in a professional infrastructure service provider to run the node, while BNB will still be held by a qualified custodian.
This approach differs from directly delegating BNB to other nodes. BNC plans to operate its own node, which not only allows it to earn rewards by staking its own BNB, but also to attract other token holders to delegate and collect commissions from delegation rewards.
BNB Chain validators mainly earn rewards from network transaction fees rather than through continuous issuance of BNB. Therefore, node revenue is related to the fees generated by on-chain transactions, the scale of delegated staking obtained, and block production performance. If BNB Chain's applications and transaction activity continue to grow in the future, BNC's node business may also benefit.
Based on the current reference staking annualized rate of about 0.6%–1% on BNB Chain, if BNC stakes its entire existing treasury, it could theoretically earn an additional 3,000–5,200 BNB per year, equivalent to about $2.3 million–$3.8 million at current prices.
4. From Exchange to Nasdaq: What Can BNC Bring to the BNB Ecosystem?
The value of crypto-equity companies to public chains may go far beyond increasing token buy pressure. A case worth considering is Solana treasury company Forward Industries, which not only holds SOL and operates validator nodes but has also begun directly investing in Solana ecosystem projects.
In May 2026, Forward Industries and RockawayX co-led a $5 million Series A round for OnRe, a reinsurance project on Solana, and committed to providing up to $25 million in liquidity support.
Unlike simply buying SOL, this funding went directly to specific applications in the Solana ecosystem, which both gives the company a chance to earn returns and helps on-chain financial products obtain the capital they need to develop.
This offers a new line of thinking for development: listed treasury companies can attract capital through the capital markets, and can also use staking, infrastructure building, and ecosystem investment to channel these resources back into public chains.
This may be a noteworthy change in the crypto-equity model: from one-way holding of crypto assets to a two-way relationship between listed companies and public chain ecosystems. The development of public chains brings asset value and business opportunities to listed companies, while listed companies use their fundraising capacity, capital, and business resources to support ecosystem building.
BNC already has a large-scale BNB treasury, and CEO Alex Odagiu has years of investment experience at YZi Labs and is no stranger to the BNB Chain ecosystem. BNC is very likely to become an important participant connecting traditional capital markets with the BNB Chain ecosystem.
5. Final Thoughts
Looking back at this year's crypto-equity boom, from the initial rush to raise funds and buy coins to today's exploration of staking, validator nodes, and ecosystem investment, this sector is undergoing a transformation.
MicroStrategy proved that traditional capital markets can become an important source of funding for crypto assets, while a new batch of crypto-equity companies has begun exploring how to make these assets generate sustained returns and even, in turn, drive the development of public chain ecosystems.
This may be the longer-term opportunity for crypto-equity companies. Listed companies are no longer merely holders of cryptocurrencies; they may also become important bridges connecting traditional capital with the on-chain economy.
