BNB Chain Activates Pasteur Hard Fork to Boost Security and Network Throughput

BNB Chain has activated the Pasteur hard fork on BNB Smart Chain (BSC), introducing security improvements for bridges, validators and governance while aiming to increase transaction throughput without reducing the network’s 450-millisecond block time.

The upgrade is built around three BNB Evolution Proposals: BEP-682, BEP-695 and BEP-675.

Pasteur Strengthens BNB Chain Security

The Pasteur upgrade addresses several validator and cross-chain security risks.

BEP-682 prevents duplicate validator entries from being counted during cross-chain light-block verification, while BEP-695 strengthens controls around validator key rotation, slashing and governance voting. The changes also remove authority from outdated validator keys and prevent restricted addresses from participating in governance votes.

These improvements are designed to make BNB Chain bridge and validator operations more secure as network activity grows.

The upgrade is particularly relevant as BNB Chain continues expanding its real-world asset ecosystem. The network recently surpassed 300,000 RWA holders, highlighting growing adoption of tokenized assets.

Related: BNB Chain RWA holders cross 300K: What it means for BNB price

Pasteur Targets Higher BNB Chain Throughput

The third component, BEP-675, changes how specialized block builders submit transactions to validators.

Previously, builders executed transactions before creating a proposed block, after which validators repeated the execution before signing it. Pasteur allows builders to submit already-executed blocks, enabling validators to verify the block against consensus rules before completing full execution checks afterward.

Tests on BNB Chain's QANet environment showed throughput increasing from 1,237 to 2,324 transactions per second, an approximately 88% improvement. However, BNB Chain stressed that these were controlled test results rather than mainnet measurements.

The upgrade keeps the 450-millisecond block time and 100-million gas limit unchanged.

What Pasteur Means for BNB Chain

Pasteur continues BNB Chain's push toward faster and more efficient infrastructure. Previous upgrades, including Maxwell and Fermi, focused on reducing block times, with Fermi bringing BSC's block interval down to 450 milliseconds.

With Pasteur now live, the focus shifts toward using that fast block production more efficiently while improving network security.

For context, BNB Chain has also been showing growing activity across other sectors. Its recent RWA growth and continued infrastructure upgrades could strengthen the network's position as blockchain adoption expands.

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