Key Insights
- •BNB Chain announces Optimized MIR Interpreter as its next major mainnet upgrade, aimed at accelerating smart contract execution.
- •The Fermi hardfork upgrade is now live on BNB Smart Chain, reducing block time from 0.75 seconds to 0.45 seconds.
- •BNB price could hit $1,000 soon due to network improvements and eventual approval of an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
BNB Chain developers have announced a major upcoming mainnet upgrade, known as the Optimized MIR Interpreter. Alongside this, the network disclosed that the Fermi hard fork is now live on BNB Smart Chain. These ecosystem updates have now raised optimistic sentiments for BNB price, as the token eyes the $1,000 mark.
Details of the BNB Chain Optimizer MIR Upgrade
In an X thread, BNB Chain developers shared key details about the Optimized MIR Interpreter mainnet upgrade. Primarily, the upgrade aims to accelerate smart contract execution by approximately 8-27%. For builders, it will help lower execution overhead, improve performance, and provide more headroom for complex decentralized applications (dApps). These will be achieved without changing their code.
The upcoming mainnet upgrade also removes one of the biggest challenges of Ethereum Virtual Machines (EVMs). The EVM currently executes contracts in sequence because of its stack-based interpreter design. It works similarly to a cafeteria plate stack, where an individual can only add or remove from the top. So, users must remove everything from the top if they need something at the bottom. This process is inefficient as the EVM spends more time managing the data structure than executing the actual logic.
To solve this problem, the new engine uses two methods: Control Flow Graph (CFG) and Registers. For the former, the engine maps out execution paths upfront, instead of blindly reading instructions individually. Registers, on the other hand, allow direct access to data by location, eliminating the need to dig through a stack.
The engine does a deep analysis when a contract is loaded for the first time. The optimized execution path is cached, allowing the engine to skip analysis. Immediately, it runs the optimized path upon subsequent uses of the same contract. This feature provides a performance boost for popular and frequently used contracts. Already, the BNB Chain tested on real contracts and saw speed improvements. For instance, the USDT and WBNB contracts tested about 11% and 23% faster. Additionally, complex functions like deposits saw an increased speed of up to 27%.
Fermi Hardfork Live on Mainnet
Meanwhile, the Fermi hard fork upgrade is now live on BNB Smart Chain. Developers activated the upgrade on mainnet on Jan. 14, 2026, at 02:30 UTC, supported by the v1.6.4 client release. Following the Fermi mainnet activation, block time dropped from 0.75 seconds to 0.45 seconds, improving transaction speed and dApp responsiveness.
Fermi also adds more parameter updates, improvements, and bug fixes to the BNB network. Additionally, Fermi introduces updated voting rules for fast finality through BEP-590 to support frequent block production. Essentially, Fermi makes the network faster without compromising reliability. It follows other major updates, including Lorentz, Pascal, and Maxwell.
The recent upgrade is part of the BNB Chain Tech Roadmap 2026. The network is moving toward faster execution under real production load, predictable performance for applications, and infrastructure scaling. In parallel, the network plans to launch a native stablecoin for large-scale use and liquidity integration. Furthermore, the BNB Chain recently outperformed top networks, including Bitcoin, Tron, Aptos, and Base, in the amount of revenue generated.
BNB Price Outlook, What to Expect
BNB, the native digital asset of the BNB Chain, is currently showing improvement in its price. Over the past 24 hours, BNB price increased by 0.9% to $938.2, with a market cap of $127.9 billion. Considering its latest move, BNB now moves closer to hitting the $1,000 mark. BNB closed higher after breaking above the $920 key resistance.
If the move continues, analysts have predicted that the BNB price may head toward the next resistance zone between $1050 and $1080. The potential launch of a BNB ETF is one key factor that could fuel the move towards $1,000. Just a few hours after Grayscale announced the filing of its incoming spot BNB ETF, the BNB price posted 2% gains.