BNB Smart Chain is preparing for a major upgrade on January 14 that will dramatically cut block times, aiming to make the network faster and more efficient for developers and users. BNB Chain will activate its Fermi hard fork on January 14, reducing block intervals from 750 milliseconds to 250 milliseconds. The upgrade is designed to support time-sensitive applications like real-time trading and DeFi platforms. Fermi introduces extended voting parameters and a new indexing mechanism to handle data more efficiently.
With current throughput at 222 TPS, BNB Chain is moving closer to its theoretical capacity of over 6,000 TPS. The centerpiece of the Fermi upgrade is a significant reduction in block intervals, shrinking from 750 milliseconds to just 250 milliseconds. This shift is intended to improve the chain’s responsiveness, enabling support for applications that rely on near-instant confirmation, such as high-frequency trading and complex DeFi protocols. Speeding up block production brings its own challenges.
To maintain consensus and prevent coordination issues between nodes, the upgrade will introduce extended voting parameters. These changes are meant to offset the communication lag that can occur in high-speed environments, ensuring the network remains stable and secure even under increased throughput. Another highlight of the Fermi hard fork is a new indexing mechanism that will benefit infrastructure providers and developers. Instead of downloading the entire blockchain history, users can now access only the specific data segments they need.
This reduces storage and computing demands, making BNB Chain more accessible and efficient for light clients and data services. BNB Chain, originally launched by Binance in 2020, has evolved into a community-run decentralized network. It currently processes about 222 TPS, according to BSC Scan, but has a theoretical maximum of 6,349 TPS, based on Chainspect data.
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