BNB Chain activates Pasteur hard fork on mainnet

BNB Chain activated the Pasteur hard fork on BNB Smart Chain mainnet at 02:30 UTC on Aug. 25, introducing three changes focused on bridge security, validator authorization and block capacity. Summary BNB Chain activated Pasteur on BSC mainnet at 02:30 UTC on August 25, 2026, successfully. Three proposals strengthen bridge verification, validator authorization and block construction without shortening block times further. BEP-682 rejects duplicate validators during cross-chain light-block checks, protecting genuine supermajority approval requirements onchain now. QANet benchmarks increased throughput 88% from 1,237 to 2,324 transactions per second under controlled conditions. Node operators needed client version 1.7.7 and removal of EnableBAL before mainnet activation began Tuesday. The network confirmed that Pasteur was live following its scheduled activation. BSC continued producing blocks at its existing 450-millisecond interval, with no major disruption publicly reported immediately after the upgrade. Pasteur combines BEP-682, BEP-695 and BEP-675 under the broader BEP-673 upgrade plan. The changes had operated on BSC’s Chapel testnet since July 21 before reaching mainnet. BNB Ch...