CZ Rings the Nasdaq Bell: What is BNC?

What can BNC bring to the BNB ecosystem?

Written by: Biteye

On October 26, CZ @cz_binance appeared at Nasdaq to ring the bell alongside the management team of BNB Standard (stock code: BNC).

A year ago, BNC became a star project in the crypto stock craze with a financing plan worth hundreds of millions of dollars. However, the company has since experienced a decline in stock price, governance disputes, and a board restructuring. Now, it has not only changed its name but also welcomed a new CEO from YZi Labs, beginning to explore new development directions.

With this bell-ringing event, let's review what BNC has gone through in the past year. What lies ahead for BNC after ringing the bell?

The Journey of BNC

The story of BNC begins in July 2025.

At that time, it was still a publicly listed company in the U.S. operating in the e-cigarette business. With the support of YZi Labs @yzilabs, the company announced a partnership with 10X Capital to launch a financing plan of approximately $500 million, transforming into a BNB reserve company, changing its stock code from VAPE to BNC, and becoming a star project in the crypto stock craze.

However, the story did not unfold as expected. What many do not know is that during the year BNC gradually faded from the market's view, a struggle for control over the company actually took place.

As the stock price fell from its peak, conflicts between YZi Labs and 10X Capital, which managed the assets, gradually became public. According to SEC filings, the two parties had previously signed a 20-year asset management agreement with an annual management fee rate of 1.75%.

YZi Labs believed that the management fees were too high and that there were governance issues, even accusing the original management team of considering abandoning the BNB reserve strategy in favor of other assets like SOL. The disagreements escalated, eventually evolving into a boardroom battle.

In May 2026, BNC even took 10X Capital to court, seeking to declare the asset management agreement invalid and to recover related fees.

A turning point occurred in June this year. BNC reached a governance cooperation agreement with YZi Labs, with YZi Labs' head Ella Zhang @ellazhang516 and former investment partner Alex Odagiu among three new board members. Subsequently, Alex officially took over as CEO, and the company was renamed BNB Standard, announcing plans to operate BNB Chain validation nodes, attempting to shift from merely holding BNB to more actively participating in ecosystem operations.

After a series of changes from the crypto stock craze to governance disputes and management restructuring, BNC finally entered a new development phase in October this year. On October 26, CZ appeared at Nasdaq to ring the bell, marking a new chapter in this transformation story that has lasted for over a year.

From YZi Labs Investment Partner to BNC CEO: Who is Alex?

In the ongoing governance adjustments at BNC, the new CEO Alex Odagiu @odagius is a figure worth noting.

Alex Odagiu graduated from the University of St Andrews in the UK and worked in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs before joining the tech investment firm LetterOne. In 2021, he joined the Binance Labs investment team, which had only about five members at the time, and rose through the ranks to become an investment manager, eventually becoming an investment partner at YZi Labs in 2025.

During his five years at YZi Labs, Alex was primarily responsible for token, equity, and strategic investments, participating 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 investments, he has served as a mentor and judge for the BNB Chain MVB accelerator for ten consecutive seasons, promoting investments in ecosystem projects such as Avalon and Aspecta, and participating in YZi Labs' EASY Residency startup incubation program.

Interestingly, Alex did not just start interacting with BNC this year. As early as 2025, he participated in governance discussions for BNC and was recommended by YZi Labs to serve as interim CEO at the end of that year, but did not receive support from the original board. It wasn't until June of this year, when the two parties reached a governance cooperation agreement, that he entered the board and took on the role of interim president, later officially becoming CEO in October.

From participating in BNC's governance discussions to officially taking over the company, Alex took nearly a year. In the past, he was mainly responsible for investments and incubation projects; now he must directly face the operations and shareholder returns of a publicly listed company.

What is BNC's Next Step After Ringing the Bell?

On October 19, when Alex Odagiu officially took over as CEO, he set two goals: first, to increase the number of BNB corresponding to each share, and second, to establish actual business on the BNB Chain, starting with operating validation nodes.

First, how can BNC further increase its BNB content?

Last year, BNC adopted the most common method in crypto stocks: issuing shares to institutional investors for financing and then using the raised funds to buy BNB.

In August 2025, BNC completed approximately $500 million in private financing, quickly establishing a reserve of over 510,000 BNB, becoming the largest publicly listed company holder of BNB in the world.

Secondly, how to generate income from the BNB held?

BNC chose to start by operating BNB Chain validation nodes. According to the official plan, the company will bring in professional infrastructure service providers to manage node operations, while BNB will still be held by qualified custodians.

This plan differs from directly entrusting BNB to other nodes; BNC plans to operate its own nodes, which can not only earn rewards through its own BNB staking but also attract other holders to delegate their BNB and collect commissions from the delegation rewards.

The validation nodes on the BNB Chain primarily rely on network transaction fees for rewards, rather than through continuous issuance of BNB. Therefore, node revenue is related to transaction fees generated on-chain, the scale of delegated staking obtained, and block performance. If the applications and trading activities on the BNB Chain continue to grow in the future, BNC's node business may also benefit from this.

Based on the current reference staking annualized yield of about 0.6% to 1% on the BNB Chain, if BNC uses its existing reserves for staking, it could theoretically earn an additional 3,000 to 5,200 BNB annually, equivalent to approximately $2.3 million to $3.8 million at current token prices.

From Exchange to Nasdaq: What Can BNC Bring to the BNB Ecosystem?

The value of crypto stocks to public chains may go beyond merely increasing token buy orders. A case worth referencing is Forward Industries, a reserve company for Solana, which not only holds SOL and operates validation nodes but has also begun to directly invest in Solana ecosystem projects.

In May 2026, Forward Industries co-led a $5 million Series A financing for the on-chain reinsurance project OnRe with RockawayX, committing to provide up to $25 million in liquidity support.

Unlike simply buying SOL, this funding flows directly into specific applications within the Solana ecosystem, providing opportunities for the company to generate returns while helping on-chain financial products secure the funding needed for development.

This offers a new development idea: publicly listed reserve companies can attract funds through capital markets while also redirecting these resources back to public chains through staking, infrastructure development, and ecosystem investments.

This may be a noteworthy change in the crypto stock model: moving from a one-way holding of crypto assets to a two-way relationship between publicly listed companies and public chain ecosystems. The development of public chains brings asset value and business opportunities to publicly listed companies, while publicly listed companies leverage their financing capabilities, funds, and business resources to support ecosystem construction.

BNC already has a large-scale BNB reserve, and CEO Alex Odagiu has years of investment experience at YZi Labs, making him familiar with the BNB Chain ecosystem. BNC is likely to become an important participant connecting traditional capital markets with the BNB Chain ecosystem.

Final Thoughts

Looking back at this year's crypto stock craze, from initially scrambling for financing to buy tokens to now exploring staking, validation nodes, and ecosystem investments, this sector is undergoing a transformation.

MicroStrategy has proven that traditional capital markets can be an important source of funding for crypto assets, while a new batch of crypto stock companies is beginning to explore how to generate sustainable returns from these assets, potentially driving the development of public chain ecosystems in return.

This may be the longer-term opportunity for crypto stocks. Publicly listed companies are no longer just holders of cryptocurrencies; they may also become important bridges connecting traditional capital with on-chain economies.