BNB Chain has activated its Jenner upgrade on the BSC testnet. It reserves a default 5% of each block's gas capacity for eligible payments and installs support for the CAS20 token standard. Payment Lane and CAS20 still need governance steps before they are fully enabled.
BNB Chain activated its Jenner hard fork on the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) testnet. The upgrade reserves a default 5% of each block's gas capacity for eligible payments. It also gives smart contracts access to millisecond timestamps and installs support for CAS20, the Compliant Asset Standard.
According to BNB Chain: "Payment Lane and CAS20 will go through governance before being fully enabled," the project said in its announcement. The payment-contract list starts empty, so stablecoins and CAS20 tokens need separate governance approval to qualify for the lane.
How Payment Lane reserves block space
Payment Lane changes how block capacity is allocated, not how transactions are priced or ordered. Previously, payments competed with other traffic for the same undivided block space.
General transactions cannot use the reserved capacity, even when it sits unused. Eligible payments can use the reservation and compete for the rest of the block. Validators must reject blocks that breach the rule, and governance controls the reservation share, up to a protocol maximum of 10%.
Qualifying traffic includes nonzero BNB transfers to accounts with no code, plus supported transactions sent directly to governance-listed payment contracts. A transaction sent through an unlisted router does not qualify merely because it later transfers a listed stablecoin. Fees still apply, and no individual payment is guaranteed inclusion in a particular block.
Finer timestamps, separate CAS20 activation
Jenner exposes millisecond timing precision already present in block headers. Contracts must explicitly call the new built-in function, and the existing block.timestamp value remains in seconds. The change does not speed up block production or strengthen the timing guarantees of validator-supplied timestamps.
CAS20 moves token functionality into the protocol rather than relying on separately deployed token code. It provides transfer policies, allowlists, blocklists, pausing and separate mint, burn and seizure roles. It retains BEP-20 interface compatibility, but those technical controls do not themselves establish legal compliance.
The hardfork installs that capability without opening token creation. Token creation and policy-registry updates start disabled, and governance must appoint an administrator who then activates those features.
For Chapel testnet operators using Reth, reth-bsc v0.1.3 is a mandatory Jenner update. BNB Chain's upgrade notice lists late November 2026 as the mainnet window, with the exact activation time still to be announced.
Source: The Defiant
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