BNB Chain has published plans for a new high-performance Layer 1 blockchain that will operate alongside BNB Smart Chain without launching a new token. BNB will serve as the sole asset for gas fees, staking and governance on the new network, which the team currently refers to only as “New L1.”

A Layer 1 is a base blockchain that processes and settles transactions on its own network rather than on top of an existing chain, and new networks in this category typically launch with a token of their own. That makes the decision to keep BNB as the only asset across both chains a departure from the usual pattern. Updated technical documentation for the project was published on October 22 (official docs), and the network does not yet have an official name.

Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance known as CZ, responded to the plan with the phrase “Multiple chains, one coins,” pointing to the decision to keep BNB as the ecosystem's only token.

How New L1 Will Work Alongside BSC

Under the plan, BNB Smart Chain (BSC) will continue to support its existing decentralized finance applications, trading platforms and other services, while the new network is designed to handle transactions that require faster processing. For users, the design means one asset, BNB, works across both networks instead of a separate token being needed for each chain. The two chains will be connected through a native bridge that is still under construction. Users will be able to move BNB from BSC to the new network, where it will pay for transaction fees.

Staking BNB on the new chain will generate govBNB at a one-to-one ratio. These tokens cannot be transferred and give holders voting rights in the network's governance system.

The performance targets are demanding. The network aims to produce a new block every 200 milliseconds and to issue transaction pre-confirmations in roughly 20 milliseconds. A pre-confirmation signals that a transaction is likely to be included but can still be reversed, so applications handling irreversible transfers must wait for final settlement.

An upgraded version of the Parlia consensus system is designed to lock in transaction ordering in under one second. By separating ordering from execution, the chain allows validators to agree on blocks without waiting for every transaction to finish executing.

A feature called Multi-Lane will reserve processing capacity for specific types of transactions, including high-frequency trading, order books and payments. Existing Solidity smart contracts will run on the new chain, although some Ethereum features, including certain transaction types and RPC methods, will not be supported. Solidity is the programming language behind most Ethereum smart contracts, which is what allows existing contracts to run on the new chain.

The design also incorporates built-in account abstraction, which enables sponsored fees and batched transactions, along with an optional privacy pool that conceals the sender, recipient and amount of a transfer.

Launch Targeted for Early 2027

The announcement follows growth in tokenized financial products on BNB Chain. An October 23 report found that the network processed about $25.6 billion in tokenized stock transactions during the third quarter. Network revenue rose 54% to $54.2 million over the same period, while the chain recorded 1.51 billion transactions and roughly 1.8 million tokenized equity holders.

The plan also follows the August 25 Pasteur hard fork, which changed how BSC builds blocks. Controlled tests showed throughput rising from 1,237 to 2,324 transactions per second, though live results may differ. Taken together, the hard fork and the new chain form two parallel tracks: one targeting higher throughput on the existing network, the other adding a separate network built for faster processing.

New L1 currently runs on an internal development network with multiple validators. A public testnet is planned for the end of 2026, with a mainnet launch targeted for early 2027 — the project's next scheduled milestones.

The bridge is not yet finished, and the privacy system still requires security audits. The documentation warns that the current privacy pool should not be used with real funds.

BNB traded at around $740 at press time, up more than 2% over the past seven days.