Why TF does anyone own BNB???

Seriously, it is a permissioned blockchain with only 29 active nodes, all of which must be approved by binance ITSELF. Ya know, the centralized exchange? BNB and binance smart chain is literally the antithesis of what crypto was initially designed to do -- remove the need for a centralized authority. It's taking up almost $42 billion of market cap that could be put to good use in other ecosystems.

CZ literally called it "CeDeFi" in a since-deleted tweet... Deleted because it's dumb as fuck.

So, those of you who long-term hold BNB, pls explain to me why. Is it ignorance, or that you just don't care about decentralization and want TPS GO BRRRR + actually believe binance? I can understand using it for tx dust and fees, but hodling it is essentially a bet against decentralization and, therefore, crypto in general. If that's the case, then it's just greed and a disregard for crypto's mission, and at that point you're basically just a grifter.

Edit: These answers are brutal. This sub is like a never-ending fever dream where year after year people get less informed. Having been around since 2016, I was beginning to build hope that FTX would be the moment we actually mature and focus on investing in decentralization rather than bullshit. The irony of being invested in bitcoin and ethereum while also being invested in BNB is going over most people's heads. You're investing in the concept of decentralization while also investing in centralization. It's a step forward and a step back simultaneously. Most of you probably own btc and eth and also bnb at the same time. You're invested in two completely opposite ideas while probably not even knowing what hedging is lol. So what is it that you're betting on exactly? Binance the exchange doing well? Did we not take any lessons from FTX, celsius, 3AC, blockfi, and countless others?

If you're a trader, fine, but you're not helping a long-term mission. You're just hurting progress of the people that are trying to build something real. You could instead trade more decentralized alternatives and not give BNB a market cap it doesn't deserve.

Edit 2: Yes, I have the same feelings about any CEX token or coin that is measurably centralized. Also, meme coins can give a good laugh but seriously hodling them just hurts the overall industry because money is so diluted across literal scams rather than being focused on real shit. But clearly this sub is just wall street bets on crack now so none of it matters anymore.

Also, there are comments calling BNB a "binance stock," but when it is called a security it is downvoted. Lmao, I just don't even know what to say to that. There are also people here telling me that trading is a good source of income and side hustle and using the fact that they did well one year as proof that it is good income. It's really not even worth getting into why this is dumb tbh. It's genuinely scary how dumb some of these comments are.