BNB Chain Activates Fermi Hard Fork, Cutting Block Times To 0.45 Seconds
BNB Chain has successfully activated its Fermi hard fork on the BNB Smart Chain mainnet, reducing block production times from 0.75 seconds to approximately 0.45 seconds.
BNB Chain has successfully activated its Fermi hard fork on the BNB Smart Chain mainnet, reducing block production times from 0.75 seconds to approximately 0.45 seconds.
The upgrade marks the conclusion of BNB Chain’s short block interval development phase and brings the network closer to its goal of achieving near one-second transaction finality. Validators are now producing blocks at nearly twice the previous speed, improving confirmation times for users and decentralized applications.
Nina Rong, executive director of growth at BNB Chain, noted that BNB Smart Chain processed 4.15 billion transactions last year. If the network handles a similar volume this year, the reduced block times could save more than 1.24 billion seconds in total block production time, equivalent to roughly 39.5 years.
To put everything into perspective,
— Nina Rong (@nina_rong) January 14, 2026
- in 2025, BSC processed 4.15B txns...
- if the same amount of txns happens in the rest of 2026
- Fermi will save 1,245,094,897 seconds
- that is 39.5 years saved in block times https://t.co/HVElpkzcZX
Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao also acknowledged the upgrade with a brief message on X, writing, “Continue to Build!”
Technical Improvements Focus on Speed and Stability
The Fermi hard fork builds on earlier performance upgrades, such as Pascal and Maxwell, and is part of BNB Chain’s 2026 technology roadmap.
Key improvements include shorter block production times, faster transaction confirmations, and more reliable finality. Updated consensus rules introduce stricter propagation and voting parameters, allowing validators to maintain coordination even during periods of high network activity.
These changes are designed to prevent finality delays and maintain predictable confirmation times when transaction volumes spike.
BNB Chain said the upgrade was informed by previous congestion experienced during speculative surges, including heavy DeFi usage and meme coin trading. The refined validator coordination mechanisms aim to preserve responsiveness under heavy load.
Designed For Real-Time Applications
The Fermi upgrade is intended to support latency sensitive applications such as on chain trading platforms, real time DeFi protocols, interactive gaming applications, and responsive crypto wallets.
Rong emphasized that the focus was on real world performance stability rather than maximum theoretical throughput. The goal was to ensure smooth user experiences even during peak demand.
Most existing decentralized applications and smart contracts require no changes to continue operating on the upgraded network. However, development teams that rely on specific block timing assumptions are encouraged to review their systems due to the faster block intervals.
BNB Chain Activity Remains High
BNB Chain processed approximately 3.89 billion transactions in 2025, ranking second only to Solana in total on-chain activity. The network’s growth has been driven by low transaction fees, performance optimizations, and active DeFi and meme coin ecosystems.
With blocks now produced every 0.45 seconds and transaction finality approaching one second, BNB Chain continues to distinguish itself from Ethereum’s base layer, which generates blocks roughly every 12 seconds.
The network remains fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine while approaching the performance levels of faster non-EVM chains like Solana. This combination continues to attract developers seeking higher speed without leaving familiar development environments.
As blockchain applications become more interactive and time sensitive, faster confirmation times and stable performance are becoming increasingly important for both users and builders.
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