Thomas Daniels
On March 20, 2025, BNB Chain is scheduled to deploy the Pascal hardfork on its mainnet, bringing significant improvements to developer flexibility and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility. After a successful testnet deployment in February, the update brings BNB Chain into compliance with Ethereum’s Pectra update’s changing criteria.
The Significance of the Pascal Hardfork
The Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-7702) is integrated into the Pascal upgrade, allowing smart contract code to be executed by externally owned accounts (EOAs). By enabling gasless transactions, batch approvals, and swaps—features targeted at enhancing user experience and Web3 adoption—wallets can now behave as smart contracts. The update also lowers user friction by enabling decentralized apps (dApps) to sponsor gas fees.
Node operators, validators, exchanges, and infrastructure providers need to upgrade their software prior to the mainnet deployment in order to guarantee smooth integration. If this isn’t done, the network may become desynchronized after the upgrade.
Upcoming Improvements: Maxwell and Lorentz Hardforks
BNB Chain is preparing for two more hardforks in addition to Pascal:
- In order to improve network performance, the Lorentz Hardfork (April 2025) aims to cut block duration to 1.5 seconds.
- Performance will be optimized with the June 2025 Maxwell Hardfork, which will implement sub-second finality (0.75 seconds per transaction).
The purpose of these changes is to improve BNB Chain’s standing in DeFi and AI-powered blockchain applications. The newly unveiled AI roadmap highlights the increasing convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and decentralized finance (DeFi), driving advancements in liquidity management, yield optimization, and cross-chain knowledge.
In conclusion
A significant turning point for BNB Chain is the Pascal hardfork, which adds developer-friendly features and improved EVM capabilities. BNB Chain is establishing itself as a high-performance blockchain that is prepared to handle the growing DeFi and AI ecosystem with the impending Lorentz and Maxwell upgrades.
