BNB New Layer 1 Puts CZ’s Ecosystem Strategy in Focus as ASTER Builds Its Own Chain

BNB Chain has proposed a new Layer 1 blockchain to operate alongside BNB Smart Chain, with BNB planned as the native asset for transaction fees and staking. Changpeng Zhao highlighted the strategy in an Oct. 25, 2026 X post. The proposed network targets 200-millisecond blocks, 20-millisecond pre-confirmations and sub-second finality, with a public testnet planned for late 2026 and mainnet for early 2027. ASTER, backed by YZi Labs, formerly Binance Labs, launched its own privacy-focused trading chain mainnet on March 17, 2026, targeting more than 100,000 transactions per second and median block times of 50 milliseconds.