​​BSC Power Players: Inside the 45 Key Validators​

BNB Smart Chain is a blockchain platform that supports smart contracts and is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Its nodes are computers or servers running BNB Smart Chain client software, maintaining network operations by validating and propagating transactions and blocks.

Compared to Ethereum, BNB Chain faces skepticism over its high centralization. While Ethereum boasts over 1 million globally distributed validator nodes, BNB Smart Chain relies on just over 40 validators, forming the core of its infrastructure.

What Are Validator Nodes?

Validator nodes are core participants in the BNB Smart Chain network, responsible for creating new blocks and securing the network through the Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA) consensus mechanism. Under PoSA, validators are elected by staking large amounts of BNB tokens.

Operating a validator node demands high security and performance standards, typically requiring robust hardware and extremely stable network conditions. Additionally, due to the requirement to stake a large amount of BNB to become a node, BSC validators are typically major BNB holders who must be highly aligned with BNB. Generally speaking, each validator node stakes over 70,000 BNB (≈$50 million). Statistics show that 45 validators collectively stake 29,244,219 BNB (≈$19.4 billion), with the validator staking the least amount committing 73,446 BNB.

Who Are the Validators?

BNB Smart Chain typically maintains 45 validator nodes, including 21 Cabinet Validators (active validators) and 24 Candidate Validators.

Cabinet Validators (21)
Possess higher block production priority and governance weight, typically operated by large institutions or core ecosystem members.

Candidate Validators (24)
Participate in consensus by staking BNB, competing for block production opportunities based on stake size.

Overall, the identities of these nodes are mostly:

• Large cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms.

• Professional blockchain infrastructure and staking service providers.

• Well-known investment institutions and blockchain project teams.

• Large BNB holders and community groups.

It is important to note that these 45 validators are not static; they can change at any time based on staking status and voting results. To see the real-time validator list, please refer to this link: https://www.bnbchain.org/en/bnb-staking

Profiling Each BSC Validator

Next, Panda Academy will provide a detailed profile of these 45 validators:

1. MATH (Math Wallet)

   • Identity: Cabinet Validator

   • BNB Staked: 1,788,615

   • Profile: MATH is a multi-chain and cross-chain blockchain asset hub, staking over 1,788,615 BNB. Its products include MathWallet, MATH VPoS Pool, MathDAppStore, MathStaking, MathCustody, MathNFT, MathChain, MathHub, MathDEX, MathID, MathPay, etc. MATH also operates nodes for many PoS chains.

2. LegendII

   • Identity: Cabinet Validator

   • BNB Staked: 1,683,563

   • Profile: Presumed to be a node operating brand or anonymous team focused on providing validator services or specific DeFi/infrastructure projects. There are multiple Legend-series nodes within the BSC ecosystem. Long-term participation in the BSC validator top 20 indicates strong capital strength and community/institutional backing.

3. CertiK

   • Identity: Cabinet Validator

   • BNB Staked: 1,582,014

   • Profile: CertiK is a globally leading Web3.0 security company, founded in 2018 by Professor Ronghui Gu of Columbia University and Professor Zhong Shao of Yale University, headquartered in New York. The company primarily provides smart contract security audits, on-chain monitoring, penetration resistance, etc. Audit clients cover leading projects like Binance, Ripple, and Solana, with a market share exceeding 70%.

4. Legend

   • Identity: Cabinet Validator

   • BNB Staked: 1,545,518

   • Profile: Legend is one of the core validators of BSC, forming the “Legend” family together with nodes like LegendII and LegendIII. This node is renowned for its high uptime and low latency and is likely the earliest node launched by this brand.

5. Defibit

   • Identity: Cabinet Validator

   • BNB Staked: 1,521,928

   • Profile: Defibit is a blockchain infrastructure provider offering RPC node services for the BSC mainnet and testnet, supporting developers and users in on-chain interactions.

6. NodeReal

   • Identity: Cabinet Validator

   • BNB Staked: 1,475,719

   • Profile: A blockchain infrastructure service provider established in 2021, offering scalable blockchain solutions for developers, Web3 applications, and large Web2 applications to drive the mass adoption of the Web3 ecosystem. Its core products include: RPC/Archive node services, sidechain and ZK solutions, hackathons, industry summits, etc.

7. BscScan (Binance Chain Explorer)

   • Identity: Cabinet Validator

   • BNB Staked: 1,427,226

   • Profile: BscScan is the official blockchain explorer for Binance Smart Chain (BNB Smart Chain, BSC), built by the same team that developed the Ethereum explorer Etherscan. It provides transparent querying of on-chain BSC data, including transactions, blocks, addresses, smart contracts, etc. It is one of the earliest independent projects built and developed for Binance Smart Chain.

8. Namelix

   • Identity: Cabinet Validator

   • BNB Staked: 1,396,596

9. BNBEve

   • Identity: Cabinet Validator

   • BNB Staked: 1,394,464

   • Profile: The name “BNBEve” continues Binance’s early validator node naming style of using mountains (e.g., Everest) or naming conventions (similar to Fuji) (Eve could refer to the eve or a specific abbreviation). It is presumed to be operated or managed by Binance or its close affiliates, forming part of the core infrastructure.

10. Tranchess

    • Identity: Cabinet Validator

    • BNB Staked: 1,366,587

    • Profile: Tranchess is a DeFi asset management protocol based on the concept of Structured Funds, aiming to provide customized yield solutions for investors with different risk appetites. The Tranchess protocol allows BNB holders to receive delegator rewards based on protocol token (CHESS) airdrops. Running a node is part of its asset management protocol ecosystem.

11. LegendIII

    • Identity: Cabinet Validator

    • BNB Staked: 1,346,762

    • Profile: LegendIII is an extended member of the “Legend” series of validator nodes, operating alongside Legend and LegendII. This node is known for its high voting rate and stability, long-term participation in BSC validator rankings, and support for the execution of community governance proposals.

12. HashKey

    • Identity: Cabinet Validator

    • BNB Staked: 1,332,051

    • Profile: HashKey Cloud is the node operated by HashGlobal. As a globally leading Web3.0 infrastructure provider and a core member of the HashKey Group, it is committed to providing professional, stable, and secure blockchain services to global clients.

13. InfStones

    • Identity: Cabinet Validator

    • BNB Staked: 1,327,887

    • Profile: InfStones, founded in 2018 in the US, provides Blockchain Platform as a Service (PaaS), focusing on node deployment, API development, and multi-chain ecosystem support, and is known in the industry as the “AWS of Web3”. Its business includes node management and API services, staking and validation services, enterprise customized solutions, etc.

14. Avengers

    • Identity: Cabinet Validator

    • BNB Staked: 1,176,411

    • Profile: Avengers is an active node in the BSC validator community. The operator names its node with a “superhero” theme, emphasizing its mission to protect the BSC ecosystem.

15. The48Club

    • Identity: Cabinet Validator

    • BNB Staked: 1,166,959

    • Profile: The48Club is one of the core validator nodes on BNB Smart Chain (BSC), and also the first DAO organization based on BSC, established in 2018. The organization has over 500 members, focusing on ecosystem investment, technical operations, and community governance. Its innovative 0 Gwei mechanism and Builder business enhance on-chain efficiency, but its vertically integrated model has also sparked decentralization controversies.

16. TWStaking

    • Identity: Cabinet Validator

    • BNB Staked: 1,163,951

    • Profile: Node operated by Trust Wallet. Trust Wallet is a decentralized multi-chain cryptocurrency wallet supporting 50+ blockchain networks and millions of tokens (including Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.). Its core goal is to provide users with secure and convenient asset management tools, while integrating one-stop services like DeFi trading, NFT storage, and DApp access.

17. Fuji

    • Identity: Cabinet Validator

    • BNB Staked: 1,095,162

    • Profile: Fuji is one of the 21 active validator nodes in BSC’s adopted PoSA (Proof of Staked Authority) consensus mechanism. The node name “Fuji” originates from the globally famous mountain (Mount Fuji), consistent with Binance Chain’s early validator node naming rules (e.g., Everest, Ararat, etc.), suggesting it might be operated by a Binance-affiliated team.

18. Feynman

    • Identity: Cabinet Validator

    • BNB Staked: 1,054,352

    • Profile: Feynman is one of BSC’s (Binance Smart Chain) 21 core validator nodes. The node name “Feynman” originates from the physicist Richard Feynman, continuing Binance Chain’s early tradition of naming validators after mountains/scientists (e.g., Everest, Ararat, etc.), suggesting it might be operated by a Binance-affiliated team.

19. Figment

    • Identity: Cabinet Validator

    • BNB Staked: 784,168

    • Profile: The Figment node is operated by Figment.io. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, it is a globally leading blockchain infrastructure and staking service provider. Their core products include Hubble (Web3 explorer), DataHub (developer tools platform), and staking services.

20. Turing

    • Identity: Cabinet Validator

    • BNB Staked: 736,564

    • Profile: The name “Turing” pays tribute to Alan Turing, the father of computer science. Following the tradition of naming BSC core nodes after mountains/scientists, it is presumed to be operated or managed by Binance or its close affiliates.

21. Shannon

    • Identity: Cabinet Validator

    • BNB Staked: 698,412

    • Profile: The name “Shannon” pays tribute to Claude Shannon, the father of information theory. Following the tradition of naming BSC core nodes after mountains/scientists, it is presumed to be operated or managed by Binance or its close affiliates.

22. Aoraki

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 322,708

    • Profile: The name “Aoraki” is the Māori name for New Zealand’s highest peak, Mount Cook. The naming style is similar to Fuji (Mount Fuji). Presumed to be an infrastructure node within the Binance ecosystem, currently running as a candidate node awaiting promotion to the Cabinet.

23. Coda

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 299,288

    • Profile: Limited information. The name “Coda” refers to the concluding passage in music, and there is also a blockchain project of the same name in the zero-knowledge proof field. Presumed to be a candidate node operated by an independent project team, service provider, or community node brand.

24. Ankr

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 227,493

    • Profile: Ankr is a well-known distributed cloud computing and Web3 infrastructure platform, providing developers with easy-to-use node deployment services, elastic RPC, staking solutions, etc. Operating a BSC candidate node is part of its expansion into multi-chain infrastructure services.

25. Pexmons

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 212,652

    • Profile: Limited information. Unique name. Likely a candidate node operated by a specific Web3 project team, service provider, or early adopter.

26. Zen

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 199,862

    • Profile: The name “Zen” embodies the concept of tranquility and balance, often used in projects related to the mind or technology. Presumed to be a validator node targeting a specific philosophy or technical focus (such as optimization, stability).

27. LegendIV

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 173,805

    • Profile: Presumed to be the fourth validator node under the Legend brand. Currently in candidate status due to relatively lower staking amount compared to other Legend Cabinet nodes. However, its brand endorsement gives it potential for promotion.

28. Ciscox

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 171,783

    • Profile: Limited information. Unique name (possibly a variant of “Cosmic” or an original term). Presumed to be a candidate validator node operated by an independent project team or community-driven initiative.

29. LegendB

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 169,847

    • Profile: Presumed to be one of the validator nodes under the Legend brand (“B” may represent a specific series or sequence number). Currently in candidate status.

30. LegendV

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 152,276

    • Profile: Presumed to be the fifth validator node under the Legend brand (“V” meaning 5). Currently in candidate status due to insufficient stake or rotation rules.

31. Axion

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 138,052

    • Profile: Limited information. The name “Axion” refers to a hypothetical particle in physics. May represent a node focused on technical performance, efficiency, or a specific solution.

32. LegendIX

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 129,573

    • Profile: Presumed to be the ninth validator node under the Legend brand (“IX” meaning 9). Currently in candidate status.

33. LegendVI

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 127,868

    • Profile: Presumed to be the sixth validator node under the Legend brand (“VI” meaning 6). Currently in candidate status.

34. NovaX

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 121,800

    • Profile: Limited information. The name “Nova” means “new star”. May represent a node operated by an emerging, promising project team or service provider.

35. Seorakan

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 121,790

    • Profile: The name “Seorak” originates from Seoraksan National Park in South Korea. The naming style seems related to mountains, similar to Fuji and Aoraki. Presumed to be related to the Korean community or a project team.

36. LegendVII

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 114,079

    • Profile: Presumed to be the seventh validator node under the Legend brand (“VII” meaning 7). Currently in candidate status.

37. Veri

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 113,586

    • Profile: Limited information. The name “Veri” may derive from “Verify”, reflecting its core role as a validator. Presumed to be a node focused on validation services.

38. Sigm8

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 109,468

    • Profile: Limited information. The name “Sigm8” may combine Sigma (mathematical symbol, summation/standard) and “8”. Meaning unclear, may represent a specific community or technical philosophy.

39. Nexa

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 107,343

    • Profile: Limited information. The name “Nexa” may represent “Next” or “Nexus” (connection point). May imply its connectivity or forward-looking nature, representing an emerging candidate node.

40. GlobalStk

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 103,580

    • Profile: The name “GlobalStk” clearly indicates its focus on global staking services. Presumed to be a node operated by an institution providing professional staking platforms or services.

41. Star

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 102,599

    • Profile: The name “Star” implies “star” (celebrity). May represent a candidate validator node brand with ambition or commitment to excellent service.

42. ListaDAO

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 90,040

    • Profile: Lista DAO is a decentralized organization focused on building LSDfi (Liquid Staking Derivatives Finance) solutions. Core products include lisUSD (over-collateralized stablecoin) and slisBNB (liquid staking token). Running a node is part of its efforts to achieve decentralized governance and participate in network consensus.

43. ListaDAO02

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 89,283

    • Profile: The second validator node operated by Lista DAO. DAOs often need to run multiple nodes to increase influence or redundancy in consensus.

44. ListaDAO03

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 89,249

    • Profile: The third validator node operated by Lista DAO.

45. Coinlix

    • Identity: Candidate Validator

    • BNB Staked: 85,235

    • Profile: Limited information. The name may hint at its relation to cryptocurrency (Coin) and liquidity (Liquidity). Presumed to be a node operated by a project providing trading, liquidity, or related services.

46. Glorin

    • Identity: Inactive Validator (Expired)

    • BNB Staked: 6,150

    • Profile: Expired inactive node. Extremely limited information, unique name. Its low staking amount and expired status indicate it no longer participates in network validation, likely belonging to a project/team that has exited or become defunct.

47. Tiollo

    • Identity: Inactive Validator (Expired)

    • BNB Staked: 4,662

    • Profile: Expired inactive node. Extremely limited information. Low staking amount and expired status indicate it no longer participates in network validation.

48. Raptas

    • Identity: Inactive Validator (Expired)

    • BNB Staked: 4,331

    • Profile: Expired inactive node. Extremely limited information. Unique name. Its status indicates it no longer has validation functions.

49. Nozti

    • Identity: Inactive Validator (Expired)

    • BNB Staked: 3,791

    • Profile: Expired inactive node. Extremely limited information. Low staking amount and status indicate it has exited.

50. Saturn

    • Identity: Deleted

    • BNB Staked: 1

    • Profile: The name “Saturn” may refer to the planet Saturn or an early member/experimental node. Its “Deleted” status indicates the node has been removed from the active validator pool and is no longer recognized, with only a symbolic 1 BNB staking record remaining. It is a node that has completely exited or been cleaned up.

BSC Validator Analysis Summary

BSC achieves high performance and low costs by sacrificing some decentralization characteristics, but this design is essentially a strategic tool for Binance’s expansion from an exchange to a blockchain ecosystem. While its centralized architecture improves efficiency, it introduces single-point failure risks and weakens censorship resistance.

From these nodes, it’s not hard to see that although BSC claims to adopt a community governance model, Binance, through its massive holdings of BNB tokens (native tokens) and control over nodes, wields decisive influence over major upgrade proposals. For example, some node names (like Fuji, Feynman) follow Binance’s early validator naming conventions, suggesting their operators may be related to the Binance team. This structure concentrates network decision-making power in the hands of a few entities, violating the core principle of blockchain “decentralization,” and has been criticized as “pseudo-decentralization.”

In the future, if BSC cannot achieve power decentralization by increasing independent validators and optimizing governance mechanisms, it may face a more severe crisis of trust.

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