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BNB Chain Sets Jan. 14 Fermi Hard Fork to Cut Block Time to 250ms

The upgrade targets faster confirmations for high‑frequency activity by cutting block intervals to 250 milliseconds.

Overview

  • BNB Chain developers confirmed mainnet activation for 14 January 2026 at 02:30 UTC after roughly two months of testnet trials.
  • Fermi reduces block production intervals from 750 milliseconds to 250 milliseconds to lower latency and speed confirmations for trading, liquidations, and payments.
  • Validators and node operators must upgrade clients before activation, with extended voting parameters introduced to maintain coordination under faster blocks.
  • A new partial indexing feature lets participants access only needed ledger data, reducing storage and hardware demands for nodes and applications.
  • Post‑fork monitoring will focus on realized block times, throughput and stability, with elevated stablecoin usage on BNB Chain and a stated goal of narrowing the gap with legacy payment systems.