- BNB Beacon Chain will be phased out.
- BNB Smart Chain will absorb Beacon Chain’s key functionalities.
- Users and stakeholders are required to take action to convert Beacon Chain tokens.
The world of cryptocurrency is constantly evolving as developers chase innovation. To increase efficiency and foster network growth, BNB Chain is set to consolidate its blockchain infrastructure by retiring the Beacon Chain and migrating its core functions into the Binance Smart Chain.
BNB Chain Blockchains to Merge
The “BNB Chain Fusion” project intends to merge the Beacon Chain and Smart Chain blockchains to “streamline the network, improve efficiency, reduce security risks, and align BNB Chain’s architecture with the current technological demands and future growth.”
The migration roadmap consists of five distinct stages from January until July’s final “Post Fusion” stage. The first few stages focus on the necessary preparations, staking migrations, and refund procedures, including dealing with Beacon Chain tokens so that they are post-merge compatible.
Sponsored
By the fourth “Final Sunset” phase, the migration team will compile a final “balance dump” to ensure all Beacon Chain tokens are captured. Stakeholders must verify the reported balances before moving on to the final “Post Fusion” phase, which focuses on failsafe processes to recover the tokens of those unaware of the migration.
To understand the implications of this migration sequence, it helps to examine the distinct roles that the Beacon Chain and Smart Chain have played within BNB Chain’s architecture thus far.
The BNB Ecosystem
The BNB Chain currently operates using a dual blockchain infrastructure. The Beacon Chain has, until now, handled governance, staking, and voting functionality using the BEP-2 and BEP-8 token standards. Whereas BNB Smart Chain is EVM-compatible for running smart contracts and decentralized applications using the BEP-20 standard.
With the forthcoming migration, the vital Beacon Chain governance and staking capabilities will be absorbed directly into an upgraded Smart Chain. The zkBNB and opBNB layer 2s and BNB Greenfield layer will remain as they are.
On the Flipside
- The migration will aid greatly in simplifying the BNB Chain ecosystem.
- Maintaining two separate chains for governance and transactions was likely inefficient.
Why This Matters
Retiring the Beacon Chain in favor of migrating capabilities into the Smart Chain streamlines BNB Chain’s offering while allowing for bolder innovation unencumbered by redundant blockchains. Users can expect a more unified and versatile network while BNB eyes future adoption in its mission toward mainstream viability.
Read about Binance’s latest BNB token burn here:
Binance Axes Over 2M BNB Tokens in Latest Token Burn
Find out more on Gemini’s XRP-related announcement falling flat here:
Gemini XRP Hype Ends in Disappointing Derivatives Bust
