BNB Chain Hard Fork Aims to Bolster Security and Elevate Compatibility with EVM Chains

In August 2023, Binance‘s BNB Chain is poised for a pair of hard forks aimed at diminishing the potential for malicious blockchain reorganizations and bolstering compatibility with various Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchain networks.

BNB Chain Hard Fork Aims to Bolster Security and Elevate Compatibility with EVM Chains

The planned Plato and Hertz upgrades, slated for August 10 and August 30 respectively, have been meticulously tested. The already-executed Plato upgrade incorporates BEP-126, a novel proposal that implements a swift finality mechanism designed to eliminate the prospect of block reversions.

Arno Bauer, BNB Chain’s Senior Solution Architect, delved into the intricate details of these network enhancements in a conversation with Cointelegraph. The swift finality mechanism aims to curtail chain reorganization risks and stabilize block production, all while enabling users to promptly access accurate data from the most recently confirmed block. Bauer further emphasized the pivotal nature of finality in blockchain technology, referring to the stage where a transaction or block of transactions becomes unalterable or irreversible. Finality serves as a cornerstone in upholding trust and deterring double-spending within blockchain systems.

BEP-126 introduces swift finality through a sequence of steps. Validators initiate the process by proposing a block to the network, which is subsequently propagated among other validators. Using their private keys, validators then sign for the block, generating a vote message. Subsequently, voting aggregation transpires, collecting validator votes into a pool and aggregating them if the immediate parent block garners sufficient votes.