BNB Chain wants to double its mainnet again, and build a new chain for AI

Doubling Down on BSC Performance

@BNBCHAIN has published its H2 2026 technical roadmap, and the targets are ambitious. After reducing BSC block intervals to 450 milliseconds and nearly doubling benchmark throughput to around 5,200 TPS, the team is now aiming for another 2x increase on mainnet, with a broader goal of 10x improvement over time.

The H1 track record gives the roadmap some credibility. Four major hardforks reduced block time from three seconds to 0.45 seconds and finality from 7.5 seconds to 1.125 seconds, while doubling network bandwidth to 133 million gas per second. On October 5th, 2025, BNB Chain reached an all-time high of 31 million daily transactions. Fees fell roughly 20 times without harming validator rewards, while total value locked rose over 40% and transactions grew 150% year-over-year. The team met its H1 targets. The question now is whether H2 can repeat that.

A New L1 Built for AI and High-Frequency Trading

The more consequential announcement is a purpose-built Layer 1. BNB Chain has announced plans to develop a new Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for agentic trading, aiming to deliver centralized exchange-like performance while preserving the transparency and self-custody of on-chain trading.

The network plans to introduce sub-50 millisecond preconfirmation for near-instant transaction acknowledgement, while targeting more than 100,000 transactions per second and sub-one-second finality. The new Layer 1 is designed to support autonomous AI agents capable of executing trades, managing portfolios, providing liquidity, performing arbitrage, and interacting across decentralized finance protocols.

Rather than replacing the existing ecosystem, the new blockchain will operate alongside BNB Smart Chain, opBNB, and Greenfield, connected through an official native bridge, while continuing to use $BNB as the ecosystem's primary asset. A public testnet is expected by the end of 2026, with a mainnet release targeted for early 2027.

Beyond the new Layer 1, the roadmap also includes continued optimization of BNB Smart Chain, development of a Reth-based execution client, expanded support for parallel execution, AI-focused developer tools, and research into post-quantum cryptography.

BNB Chain has consistently delivered on its technical commitments over the past 18 months. Whether it can sustain that pace across an even more demanding set of targets will be the defining question of the year ahead.

Sources:
BNB Chain H2 2026 Tech Roadmap: Doubling Down on Speed
Crypto Briefing: BNB Chain Unveils 2026 Tech Roadmap