Crypto exchange Binance plans to launch Binance Chain testnet on February 20

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Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by 24-hour trading volume, is targeting February 20 for the launch of public testing of Binance Chain, CEO Changpeng Zhao announced in a tweet.

Finally got a date. Targeting to release Binance Chain testnet (@binance_dex) for public testing on Feb 20th. This is a testnet, your feedback would be most valuable.
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) February 12, 2019

“Finally we have a date. The start of public testing is scheduled for February 20. It's about the test network, feedback is welcome,” Zhao said.

Officially announced last March, Binance Chain is Binance’s public blockchain platform. In an official release, the company had explained:

“As a public blockchain, Binance Chain will mainly focus on the transfer and trading of blockchain assets, as well as provide new possibilities for the future flow of blockchain assets. Binance Chain will focus on performance, ease-of-use, and liquidity. Binance Coin (BNB) will be upgraded to exist on its own blockchain mainnet, becoming a native coin.”

In a recent “ask me anything” or AMA session, Zhao explained that for Binance Chain, they took the Tendermint protocol from the Cosmos Network project and “made a fork out of it.”

“So we didn’t use the standard SDK, so we forked it and chopped a lot of things out. So, in the Binance Chain, there’s no smart contract. We just have an interface for you to issue tokens, and then you can trade it. Binance Chain is a very simple chain in terms of application, but it can handle very large loads,” he added.