BNB Chain scheduled to launch Pasteur hard fork upgrade

BNB Chain is scheduled to activate the Pasteur hard fork on its BNB Smart Chain mainnet on August 25, 2026, at 02:30 AM UTC. Following previous upgrades focused on speed, such as the Fermi and Osaka/Mendel forks, the Pasteur upgrade focuses on maximizing network efficiency and enhancing security protocols.

The upgrade incorporates three specific technical proposals: BEP-682, BEP-695, and BEP-675. BEP-682 aims to strengthen bridge verification to mitigate security risks associated with cross-chain infrastructure and validator signatures. BEP-695 improves governance and security by ensuring validator keys are properly retired, preventing outdated credentials from being misused.

Additionally, BEP-675 is designed to increase transaction throughput by allowing more efficient block utilization. Testnet benchmarks indicate that this change could increase transaction speeds from approximately 1,237 transactions per second (TPS) to 2,324 TPS. Node operators are required to upgrade to version 1.7.7 prior to the activation.