BNB Chain Activates Pasteur Hard Fork to Enhance Bridge Security and Performance

BNB Chain has activated the Pasteur hard fork on its mainnet to enhance bridge security and improve performance. The upgrade, which combines three BNB Evolution Proposals (BEPs), aims to tighten validator handling for cross-chain operations, safer staking and governance mechanics, and a new approach to block construction during periods of network congestion.

The key takeaways from the Pasteur hard fork include tighter bridge verification and validator authorization to reduce approval and voting ambiguities. The upgrade also prevents validators from being counted more than once during cross-chain light-block verification, and strengthens protections around validator key rotation, slashing, and governance voting controls.

The new block-building route allows builders to submit blocks they have already executed, which reduces redundant work for validators and improves execution efficiency. BNB Chain reported an ~88% throughput increase in QANet tests using the updated block-building route, with average gas used per block rising from 46.35 million to 84.15 million.