BNB Chain Fermi update scheduled for January 2026 release

The Fermi hard fork of the BNB smart chain is scheduled for mainnet activation on January 14th after two months at the testnet level.

According to the BNB community GitHub page, Fermi will reduce the block interval to 250 milliseconds from 750 milliseconds.

The update introduces extended polling parameters to compensate for communication delays between nodes due to reduced block times.

Instead of downloading the entire block history, a process that consumes a lot of computing resources, a new indexing mechanism is included for users who want only a portion of the entire registry information.

The improvement reflects the push for blockchain networks to make distributed systems as efficient as or better than their centralized counterparts in the traditional financial system, allowing blockchain networks to achieve higher throughput and transaction speeds.

Related: Can BNB Price Take $1K Again in December?

BNB Chain pressure to become a high-performance chain

The BNB Smart Chain is a layer-1 blockchain network launched by cryptocurrency exchange Binance in 2020, but has since become a decentralized ecosystem driven by a community of validators and users.

According to block explorer BSC Scan, BNB Chain is currently processing around 222 transactions per second (TPS).

However, the protocol has a maximum theoretical TPS of 6,349, according to Chainspect data.

Blockchain protocols lag behind traditional financial infrastructure, limiting the use of these networks for payments or high-frequency transactions.

Visa, one of the leading payment providers and credit card companies, runs 1,700 TPS, according to crypto exchange Phemex.

Due to this high turnover rate, payments to merchants are processed in seconds using residual payment channels.

BNB Chain's number of active addresses has risen to 2,871,208, which matches the number of active addresses of the highest layer-1 blockchain Solana, crypto market analysis platform Nansen reported.

Blockchain networks have long block times and low TPS, as well as prohibiting decentralized finance (DeFi) applications by creating latency, which can lead to end-user drift or poor transaction performance.

Slippage occurs when a market order is not filled at the spot price, usually due to technical issues with connection or network congestion.

Magazine: Is Measuring Blockchain Transactions Per Second (TPS) Foolish in 2024? Big questions