AI agents are ready to trade crypto. BNB Chain says today’s blockchains aren’t ready for them. So they’re building a new one.
The H2 2026 technical roadmap lays out plans for a new layer-1 blockchain designed specifically for high-frequency trading, automated payments, and AI-driven transactions. It’ll run alongside the existing BNB Smart Chain, not replace it.
The specs are ambitious. More than 100,000 transactions per second. Sub-second block finality — under 50 milliseconds to confirm. A system called TxStream that removes the public mempool, sending transactions directly to block leaders to cut latency and prevent front-running.
Testnet is expected by end of 2026. Mainnet in early 2027.
BNB Chain’s first-half upgrades already cut block intervals from 750ms to 450ms and boosted throughput from 2,800 to 5,200 TPS. The new layer-1 is the next leap.
There’s also a quantum angle. The team is researching quantum-resistant security through account abstraction, letting users upgrade to quantum-safe protections without changing wallet addresses. It’s early-stage research, but they’re not wrong to start now.
“There’s no finish line here,” the developers wrote. “Quantum computing will keep evolving, and so will our testing and research.”
They’re not alone in this direction. Stripe-backed Tempo launched an AI-agent payment layer-1 in March. MoonPay released an Open Wallet Standard for AI agents with PayPal, Ethereum Foundation, and Solana Foundation chipping in.
The race to build blockchain infrastructure for AI agents is on. BNB Chain just laid down a marker.
