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BNB Chain is accelerating again. The Maxwell hardfork brings a major upgrade to BNB Smart Chain (BSC), reducing block times from 1.5 seconds to 0.75 seconds. This marks the next step in our mission to improve network responsiveness, transaction speed, and validator performance.
The Maxwell upgrade is powered by three key proposals—BEP-524, BEP-563, and BEP-564—each designed to improve core aspects of the chain’s speed and reliability.
With Maxwell, BSC will:
These enhancements will benefit all network participants—from users and developers to validators and node operators.
The Lorentz hardfork reduced BSC block times from 3 seconds to 1.5 seconds—laying the groundwork for faster DeFi, smoother UX, and stronger validator performance.
Since then, BNB Chain has:
These improvements prove that a faster, cheaper network directly drives user growth and adoption.
In addition to reducing block times from 3s to 1.5s, Lorentz significantly improved BSC’s network stability:
Now with Maxwell, BSC is going sub-second—bringing block times down to 0.75 seconds.
Image Source: Dune
BEP-524 introduces a new block interval of 0.75 seconds, building on the improvements from the Lorentz hardfork (which cut block time from 3 seconds to 1.5 seconds).
This change will:
Read the full information about BEP-524 on our GitHub page.
With faster blocks, validators need to reach consensus more efficiently. BEP-563 improves peer-to-peer messaging between validators, allowing for:
Read the full information about BEP-563 on our GitHub page.
BEP-564 introduces two new message types in the bsc/2 protocol:
Read the full information about BEP-564 on our GitHub page.
Transactions will feel nearly instant. From swaps to mints, every dApp interaction becomes smoother.
Lower latency unlocks new design space for dApps—but devs must update time-based logic to avoid race conditions or syncing issues.
Expect slightly increased compute demand. With improved P2P messaging and block syncing, Maxwell ensures stable validator operations even under higher load.
To support faster blocks, several consensus parameters are being adjusted under Maxwell:
A tighter block window changes the game for MEV searchers. MEV builders must adapt to the reduced time window to submit bids—less than one second per block. Some strategies may no longer be viable in a 0.75s block environment.
What to do now:
More details, including full upgrade instructions and mainnet release notes, will be shared in the coming weeks.
Before Maxwell can be deployed to mainnet, the following criteria must be met:
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