Introducing a major BNB Smart Chain performance upgrade, the network has confirmed the activation of the ‘Fermi’ hard fork for January 14. This critical update is engineered to slash the average block time to a targeted 0.45 seconds. It represents a coordinated step in a broader series of technical enhancements for the BNB Chain ecosystem, following the successful deployment of the ‘Fourier’ hard fork on its opBNB Layer 2 network on January 7.
To implement the Fermi hard fork, all node operators must update their software to versions 1.6.4 and then to 1.6.5. This aims to optimize performance under a higher transaction load while maintaining the network reliability for which it is already known among its users.
A Key Improvement Facing Competition
The need for this update is not a spontaneous impulse but a response to the enormous demand of the ecosystem, which in early 2026 handles up to 40% of the total cryptocurrency industry traffic.
Although it trails behind Ethereum and Solana in popularity, BNB Chain leads in market share by number of transactions. In response to this situation, the Fourier hard fork on opBNB has already reduced its block time to 250 milliseconds, demonstrating a coordinated effort to scale the entire ecosystem and improve the user experience.
How Do These Upgrades Impact the Value of BNB?
Despite the technical announcement, the BNB token experienced a drop. The token retreated 3.5% in 24 hours, trading around $884.39. This behavior responds more to a general cryptocurrency market correction than to the merits of the announcement, and it is expected that the open interest in BNB futures will recover after falling to $820 million.
Nevertheless, analysis suggests this reaction could be temporary. In fact, liquidity for short positions is accumulating above the current price. Therefore, if the market recovers, a series of liquidations of these positions could boost BNB’s price in the short term.
The implementation of the Fermi hard fork consolidates the fundamentals of BNB Smart Chain for the next wave of mass adoption. The ecosystem strengthens to capture more value from Web3, positioning itself as key infrastructure for the future of decentralized finance.