BNB Chain’s Pasteur Hard Fork Boosts Gas Capacity by 28%

The BNB Chain’s Pasteur hard fork, activated on August 25, 2026, has delivered its first measurable results, boosting block gas capacity by 28% under live mainnet conditions. Powered by BEP-675, the upgrade removes redundant Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) execution steps, allowing for more efficient block production and opening new scaling potential for the network.

What Changed with BEP-675?

Before Pasteur, block production on the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) required three EVM execution passes during block assembly. BEP-675 eliminates one of these steps by enabling builders to submit fully executed blocks, or BidBlocks, to validators. This streamlined process reduces duplicated work, leaving more room within each block’s execution window for actual transaction processing.

As a result, blocks using the new BidBlock V2 format have averaged 28% more gas compared to the previous Bid V1 format. At peak, BidBlock V2 reached 43.8 million gas compared to Bid V1’s 33.8 million, demonstrating a marked improvement in block utilization.

Rapid Adoption on the Network

The transition to BEP-675 has been swift. Over a three-day observation period ending September 1, BidBlock V2 accounted for approximately 98% of all blocks produced on BSC. The remaining 2% were built using the older Bid V1 format, which remains available as a fallback mechanism to ensure network stability during the transition.

This rapid adoption was driven largely by the network’s largest builders, including 48Club and BlockRazor, which together produced nearly 98% of blocks during the period. With 24 out of 49 registered builders already integrating BEP-675, and all 33 active builders utilizing it, the upgrade has effectively become the new standard for block production on BSC.

Scaling Toward 90M Gas Limits

Currently operating at a 55 million gas limit, BNB Chain plans to incrementally raise this ceiling to 70M, 80M, and eventually 90M, based on mainnet performance data. Validators have already begun increasing the gas limit, which has reached over 55 million as of September 14, 2026, with the network running at over 95% utilization.

This increase in capacity aligns with BNB Chain’s broader roadmap to scale throughput. Previous upgrades, such as the Fermi and Osaka/Mendel hard forks, focused on reducing block times and stabilizing network speed. In contrast, Pasteur and BEP-675 aim to maximize block efficiency, with testnet benchmarks showing throughput improvements from 1,237 TPS to 2,324 TPS, an 88% increase.

Market Implications

BNB, the native token of the BNB Chain, is currently trading at $724.58 as of September 14, 2026, with a slight 24-hour change of -0.19%. While the Pasteur upgrade is unlikely to move prices immediately, the enhanced scalability could make BNB more attractive for decentralized applications (dApps) and institutional adoption in the long term.

As the network gears up for larger blocks, its ability to handle increased transaction volumes without compromising finality or security will be critical. The upcoming gas limit increases will test whether the network’s infrastructure, including synchronization protocols and node efficiency, can keep pace with the demands of scaling.

Outlook

The Pasteur hard fork demonstrates BNB Chain’s commitment to continuous improvement. By removing inefficiencies in block production and creating additional capacity headroom, the network is better positioned to support growing transaction volumes and dApp activity. The next stages of scaling, including the move toward 90M gas limits, will be crucial in determining how effectively BNB Chain can compete in an increasingly crowded blockchain ecosystem.

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