Looking beyond 2024, the story of BNB Chain is worth a thorough review.

From a technical perspective, the iteration on scalability of this public chain has not stopped. Although there haven't been grand protocol upgrades, underlying optimizations and improvements in cross-chain infrastructure have been ongoing. Network stability and transaction throughput have remained relatively stable, providing a basic confidence guarantee for developers.

The ecosystem projects are the best indicator of activity. The TVL of DeFi projects fluctuates significantly, with some star applications experiencing continuous growth, while others face competitive pressures. The NFT and gaming sectors have experienced ups and downs — the early hot streak has cooled down, but some vertical projects are accumulating users. The integration level of Layer 2 solutions has increased, which is very attractive to applications looking to reduce costs.

It is worth noting the deepening of ecosystem collaborations. More traditional applications and Web2 projects are testing BNB Chain; although not all succeed, these attempts indicate that market recognition of this chain is rising. Meanwhile, developer activity on the chain remains relatively high. The launch speed of new projects is slower than in the past two years, but the focus on quality is improving.

Of course, challenges also exist. Market competition is intensifying, with other L1 and L2 solutions nibbling away at users and funds. Gas fees are relatively cheap, but as more low-cost alternatives emerge, the cost advantage is being diluted. Uncertainty in the regulatory environment also impacts ecosystem confidence.

Overall, BNB Chain has not experienced major crises in the past year, but growth momentum is gradually slowing down. Where the new growth points will come from depends on product innovation and application breakthroughs this year.