BNB Smart Chain is entering a critical upgrade phase as it prepares to activate the Fermi hard fork on January 14, just days after completing the Fourier upgrade across the broader BNB Chain.
Together, the changes mark one of the most aggressive performance pushes in the network’s history.
Key takeaways
BNB Smart Chain will cut block times to 0.45 seconds with the Fermi hard fork.
The upgrade follows the Fourier hard fork completed on January 7.
Scaling is driven by rising transaction demand across the Binance ecosystem.
Network performance upgrades contrast with short-term weakness in BNB’s price.
The Fermi upgrade is designed to dramatically reduce block times and increase transaction throughput, accelerating BNB Smart Chain to 0.45-second blocks. The change builds on earlier Pascal and Maxwell upgrades and pushes the network closer to the technical limits of block propagation while maintaining stable uptime under heavier load.
To support the new parameters, validators are required to upgrade to node version 1.6.4, with a follow-up update to 1.6.5 scheduled shortly after. The upgrades are part of a coordinated effort across Binance’s decentralized infrastructure as demand for onchain activity continues to rise.
Scaling to defend relevance
Despite losing mindshare to faster-growing ecosystems like Solana, BNB Chain remains a major force in decentralized activity. The network currently ranks fourth in application revenue, trailing Solana, TRON, and Ethereum, but still outperforming Base.
Over the past month alone, BNB Chain generated approximately $21 million in app revenue, driven largely by PancakeSwap, the Opinion prediction market, and the GMGN perpetual futures decentralized exchange. While it may lag top rivals in fee generation, BNB Chain continues to dominate in raw transaction volume and overall onchain activity.
That activity is a key reason behind the recent upgrades. Data suggests the Binance onchain ecosystem accounts for up to 40% of total blockchain traffic in early 2026, making scalability a necessity rather than an optimization.
Op BNB already cuts block time in half
The performance push extends to Layer 2. Op BNB, one of the ecosystem’s main scaling networks, activated its own hard fork on January 7, reducing block times from 500 milliseconds to 250 milliseconds. The change required a full node upgrade and is aimed at supporting higher throughput with lower latency.
Together, BNB Chain, BNB Smart Chain, and Op BNB form a layered scaling strategy supporting DeFi, decentralized trading, wrapped assets, and gaming applications. The ecosystem has also benefited from deeper integration with Binance Wallet, one of the most widely used Web3 access points.
Token price diverges from network progress
Despite the technical upgrades, BNB, the native token of the Binance ecosystem, has moved lower alongside the broader market. The token fell below $900, trading near $884 after a 3.5% daily decline.
Open interest has dropped to roughly $820 million, signaling reduced speculative positioning. Recent liquidations have primarily flushed long positions, with downside risk toward $840, while short liquidity is building above current levels up to $960 — leaving room for volatility-driven moves in either direction.
For now, BNB Smart Chain’s message is clear: performance upgrades are taking priority over short-term market reaction, as the network positions itself to remain competitive in an increasingly crowded Layer-1 landscape.
