BNB Chain activates Fermi hard fork, block speed refreshed, ecosystem returns to high activity

【Crypto World】BNB Chain activated the Fermi hard fork in January 2026. This upgrade is no small move — block time was directly reduced from 0.75 seconds to 0.45 seconds, and the finality mechanism was also strengthened.

What’s more interesting is that the timing of this upgrade is quite precise. The number of active on-chain addresses has already reached the range of 2 million to 3 million, approaching the peak levels of 2021. But to be fair, the ecosystem’s TVL is about $7 billion, still far from the $20 billion peak it once had. The contradictions here are quite typical — high-frequency trading and relatively shallow liquidity.

Fermi’s goal is to stabilize the network based on these usage characteristics. High transaction volume combined with low liquidity can easily cause congestion. The upgrade shortens block times and reinforces finality rules to ensure transaction reliability. From a performance perspective, it alleviates pressure; from a mechanism perspective, it enhances stability — this combined approach is helpful for ecosystem recovery.