Fermi Upgrade for BNB Smart Chain: What You Need to Know

BNB Chain is preparing the next performance upgrade for BNB Smart Chain with the upcoming Fermi hard fork, scheduled to activate on January 14, 2026 at 02:30 UTC.

The upgrade will roll out with the BSC v1.6.4 client, followed shortly by v1.6.5 as a synchronized maintenance release.

Fermi marks the final step in BSC’s short block interval roadmap. It brings the network to its lowest block times so far, while preserving stable behavior under sustained, real-world traffic.

Understanding the Fermi Hard Fork

Fermi is the next performance-oriented protocol upgrade for BNB Smart Chain, following the Lorentz, Pascal, and Maxwell phases.

Rather than chasing peak throughput alone, this upgrade focuses on improving how the network behaves moment to moment as usage increases. As blocks are produced more frequently, the challenge shifts toward keeping execution predictable and finality consistent.

BSC already supports large-scale DeFi, gaming, payments, and consumer-facing applications. Fermi builds on that foundation by tightening block production timing and strengthening finality rules so the network remains dependable as it runs faster.

For users, this translates into quicker confirmations.
For developers, it reduces latency and improves interaction flow.
For operators, it raises performance expectations without introducing instability.

Protocol Changes Introduced by Fermi

The Fermi hard fork includes multiple BEPs that together support faster block production and improved operational efficiency:

These changes are designed to reduce latency and overhead while preserving the confirmation guarantees applications depend on.

Moving to 0.45 Second Block Times

With Fermi, BSC reduces its block interval from 0.75 seconds to 0.45 seconds, completing the final phase of the short block interval roadmap.

In practical terms, this means:

-Transactions reach blocks more quickly

-Confirmation windows shrink

-Onchain interactions feel more immediate during high activity

This has a direct impact on wallets, dApps, and backend systems that rely on fast feedback from the network, especially in trading and high-frequency use cases.

Maintaining Finality as Throughput Increases

Shorter block intervals increase the demands placed on consensus. To account for this, Fermi updates fast finality voting behavior through BEP-590.

Fast finality allows transactions to reach a high confidence state within a small number of blocks. With the Fermi changes in place, this mechanism continues to function reliably even as block frequency increases.

The result is:

-More consistent confirmation behavior

-Reduced risk of finality delays during congestion

-Stable assumptions for applications that depend on confirmation timing

This balance allows the network to run faster without weakening its security model.

Notes: After upgrading to v1.6.4, nodes will trigger snapshot regeneration. During this process, performance may temporarily degrade.

On BNB Chain reference hardware, snapshot regeneration took approximately 5 hours. Operators should plan maintenance windows accordingly.

This is part of the transition toward incremental snapshots, which improve long-term node performance.

How Fermi Aligns With the 2026 Roadmap

Fermi fits into a broader effort by BNB Chain to improve execution quality over time, not just headline performance metrics.

As outlined in the 2026 technical roadmap, the focus remains on delivering reliable execution under sustained load, predictable behavior for applications, and scaling infrastructure without increasing operational complexity.

By pairing shorter block times with stronger finality safeguards, Fermi establishes a solid baseline for the upgrades planned throughout 2026.

What Builders Using Tatum Should Know

As block times drop to 0.45 seconds, infrastructure behavior becomes more sensitive to latency, RPC performance, and event handling. Faster chains amplify inefficiencies in polling, confirmation tracking, and node reliability.

Tatum provides full support for BNB Smart Chain, allowing builders to benefit from the Fermi upgrade without running or maintaining their own nodes.

Through Tatum, teams can:

• Access BSC via a load-balanced RPC gateway to handle higher block frequency
• Deploy and interact with smart contracts using standardized APIs, with no changes required for Fermi
• Estimate gas fees accurately as throughput increases
• Work with indexed BSC data, including wallet portfolios, transactions, internal transfers, and exchange rates
• Receive real-time webhook notifications for BSC events, reducing reliance on polling as blocks accelerate

This allows builders to adapt to faster block production immediately, while Tatum manages infrastructure reliability and performance.

Looking Forward

Each BNB Chain hard fork reflects operational experience gained at scale. Fermi represents a refinement phase, improving how the network behaves in everyday conditions rather than pushing raw limits alone.

As BNB Chain continues executing its 2026 roadmap, these changes lay the groundwork for the next stage of onchain growth, with faster confirmations, stronger finality, and infrastructure better suited to real-world usage.

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