- BNB Chain successfully implements Lorentz upgrade on testnet, cutting block time.
- opBNB achieves even faster 0.5-second block times ahead of April 21 mainnet launch.
- BNB token shows modest 0.3% daily gain despite broader market weakness.
BNB Chain has finalized the Lorentz hard fork on its testnet. The upgrade has reduced block times on the BSC testnet to 1.5 seconds, while opBNB’s testnet is now faster by 0.5 seconds. The change makes the Binance-supported blockchain among the fastest in the crypto world.
“The Lorentz testnet hardforks are complete! opBNB is now running at 0.5s block times & BSC testnet is live with 1.5s block times.”” Faster blocks. Smoother performance. Now it’s time for mainnet,” announced the official BNB Chain account on X.
The upgrade is scheduled to roll out the mainnet in two phases, with opBNB leading the implementation on April 21 at 03:00 AM UTC. This is followed by BSC on April 29 at 05:05 AM UTC. This approach allows the ecosystem to adapt gradually to the improved performance capabilities while ensuring network stability throughout the transition.
The Lorentz upgrade follows the network’s technical roadmap that has already seen several improvements in recent months. The current improvement builds upon previous upgrades like the Consecutive Block Production on BSC and Parallel Ethereum Virtual Machine on opBNB. This continues the network’s plan toward sub-second block times as mentioned in its 2025 development plans.
“These upgrades aren’t just technical milestones—they’re about giving builders, validators, and users a faster, more responsive chain,” the BNB Chain team explained in their announcement. The quicker block times are designed to help applications needing speedy transaction finality, such as decentralized exchanges, gaming platforms, and other high-frequency interactive dApps in the BNB ecosystem.
Developers and node operators are being encouraged to upgrade their infrastructure before the mainnet implementation dates to allow for a seamless transition. The team has both upgraded testnets available for testing and verification, with links to opBNB testnet explorer and BSC testnet explorer made available for ecosystem participants to track the networks in operation.
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The BNB token has small gains amidst the news of the testnet upgrade. It has recorded a small 0.3% gain in the last 24 hours when most cryptocurrencies have experienced selling pressure. This small positive trend is realized even though a weekly fall of 2.4% has been registered. The 30-day record is still positive at 5.0%, although the annual performance is down by 4.3%.
As mainnet deployments get closer, scrutiny will center on whether such performance enhancements are followed by developer activity and user growth. Although quicker block times enhance the technical ability of the network, long-term success with such upgrades will be determined by whether they stimulate meaningful application development.
