Differences and Similarities Between Binance Chain, Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum Network.

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This article is focused at explaining the differences and similarities between Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum Network.

Just recently, Binance launched its own smart contract enabled blockchain network called Binance Smart Chain (BSC) which is parallel to the decentralized exchange focused chain, Binance Chain (BC).

Since after the launch, the common error has been users either sending binance coin (BNB) or BC based tokens (BEP2 and BEP8) to BSC.

Another common error is users sending BC or BSC tokens to an Ethereum (ETH) based network address instead of sending it through the BSC network address.

So we have arranged some similarities and differences between these two, to enable you, send and receive the BNB through the Ethereum network and the BSC without errors.

Similarities Between Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum Network.

Both start with the address prefix ‘0x’.
Both are compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
Addresses of both networks work on both explorers.
Both networks work on Metamask.

Differences Between Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum Network.

BSC tokens are called BEP20 while ETH tokens are called ERC20 tokens.
BSC address though it has similar address format with ETH won’t bring out the ETH wallet balance of an ETH address on its chain explorer neither will BSC bring out the same for ETH on its network.
We have etherscan.io explorer for ETH network and bscsan.com for BSC network, all built by Etherscan Team.

Ethereum based on BSC standard known as BEP20 Ethereum

Quick Facts: BC is different from BSC Both don’t have the same address format but both chains are based on Binance Coin (BNB). Sending or Receiving on Binance Chain will require address and memo but on BSC it doesn’t require address and memo.

How to Successfully Send and Receive Binance Smart Chain Tokens and Binance Chain Tokens

BC Tokens are known as BEP2 and BEP8 (mini tokens) while BSC Tokens are known as BEP20 Tokens.

BNB on BC is the same in value but not the same in network structure or tech with BSC. Sending or Receiving BNB on the BC to the BSC directly might lead to loss of funds or asset loss. You might as well get an ‘Invalid Address Error’.

You can easily swap between both parallel chain networks by depositing either of the parallel network tokens on the Binance Exchange and withdrawing the needed chain token in return.

So now you have gotten a quick glimpse of all the blockchains involved including BC, BSC and Ethereum Network.

So while BC is focused on decentralized exchange trading, BSC is focused on smart contracts automation, DApps and building for the DeFi ecosystem.

BSC solves the underlying network gas fees synonymous with Ethereum network at a very lower fees and higher speed in transaction.

Things to Note About BSC and Ethereum Network:

Any DApp built on BSC will only take BEP20 tokens same way any DApp built on Ethereum Blockchain will only take ERC20 tokens and other compatible token standards based on Ethereum Blockchain.

For someone looking to trade Ethereum (ETH) on DApps like BSCswap, PancakeSwap, BurgerSwap etc and other BSC based Swap. The person will have to use BEP20 Ethereum, that is Ethereum created to run with BSC known as BEP20 ETH. Represented in one of the pictures above.

Same goes with other tokens like BTC, XRP, EOS, MONERO, TRON etc. All must be the correct BEP20 version of the needed token in other to work with the BSC network DApp (decentralized applications like BSCswap).

On Ethereum, DApps include Uniswap, Mooniswap which is only compatible with Ethereum Blockchain. If I’m to send BNB to it, I will need ERC20 BNB just like the one shown the picture above.