BNB Chain has rolled out the Pasteur hard fork on the BNB Smart Chain mainnet, bringing updates to bridge verification, validator management, governance security, and transaction capacity. The upgrade retains the network’s 450-millisecond block time while increasing the number of transactions that can be processed within each block under the new rules.
Pasteur also brings changes to validator operations and transaction processing. Testnet benchmarks recorded 2,324 transactions per second, compared with 1,237 previously. The higher figure points to greater transaction capacity without shortening the current block production interval used by BNB Smart Chain.
The upgrade does not raise the block gas limit or reduce the 450-millisecond block interval introduced through the Fermi upgrade. Higher capacity instead depends on builders adopting BEP-675 and filling blocks more fully during normal network activity.
BEP-682 Strengthens BNB Chain Light Block Verification
The BEP-682 proposal revises the verification process BNB Smart Chain uses for light blocks coming from cross-chain systems. Prior to the upgrade, validator lists could include duplicate entries and still pass verification, allowing a single validator to be counted more than once.
Under Pasteur, repeated validator records are filtered out before the voting threshold is determined. Each approval must be provided by a separate validator for a light block to secure the required supermajority. The update helps prevent duplicate entries from overstating the level of validator support.
BNB Chain has not disclosed any attack tied to the verification weakness or associated the issue with earlier losses involving assets. Instead, Pasteur was introduced to close the security gap proactively, without being linked to any publicly reported theft.
Validator Keys and Governance Receive New Rules
BEP-695 revises the process for validator key changes, sanctions, and governance involvement. If a validator replaces its operator key, the previous key no longer retains control rights. Any outstanding penalties remain linked to the validator itself, ensuring a key change cannot be used to avoid slashing or removal measures.
Pasteur also tightens governance participation by restricting addresses through off-chain signatures. Previously, a blocked account could not vote itself but might still authorize a vote that another address could submit. The revised governance contracts now verify who originally signed the vote before accepting any delegated voting action.
A delegated vote linked to a restricted signer will be rejected, even if the submission comes through a different address. This change helps close the gap between direct voting limits and signed governance activity, allowing the network to apply stricter checks on which participants are eligible to influence governance decisions.
