On March 7, BNB Chain announced that it will conduct a mainnet upgrade with the Pascal hard fork on March 20, 2025. This upgrade aims to enhance EVM compatibility and make BNB Chain one of the first public blockchains to adopt EIP-7702. The upgrade introduces key features such as Gas abstraction, temporary conversion of EOA wallets into smart contracts, and batch transactions, providing a smoother user experience and greater flexibility for developers.
EIP-7702 allows externally owned accounts (EOAs) to temporarily function as smart contracts during transactions while maintaining security. This innovation significantly lowers barriers to Web3 adoption. Additionally, Gas abstraction enables users to execute on-chain transactions without holding native tokens for Gas fees. dApps can also sponsor Gas fees for users, while batch transactions further enhance the trading experience.
The Pascal hard fork has already been successfully deployed on the testnet. For the upcoming mainnet upgrade, node operators and validators must update to v1.5.7 (BSC) or v0.5.2/v0.5.6 (opBNB) before March 20. Exchanges and infrastructure providers need to ensure compatibility before the hard fork, while dApp developers should test and adjust their applications to support the new transaction types.
According to BNB Chain's 2025 technical roadmap, the community plans to roll out the Lorentz hard fork in April and the Maxwell upgrade in June, which will reduce block time to 0.75 seconds. The proposal is now open for community feedback.