Developers in the Binance BNB Smart Chain ecosystem are proposing a significant shift, seeking to consolidate the BNB Beacon Chain (BEP-2) and BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20) into a unified blockchain.
In a recent announcement on January 8, users were strongly recommended to migrate their BEP-2 and BEP-8 tokens to the BEP-20 chain, ensuring asset preservation at a 1:1 ratio. This migration can be executed through exchanges, wallets like BNB Chain Wallet, and self-custody wallets.
The tentative deadline for the BNB Chain fusion is set for April 2024, with a provision for asset migration after the deadline through a legacy feature, albeit with a recovery process taking up to seven days via a command-line prompt.
BEP-2 tokens without cross-chain support face irreversible loss post-BNB Beacon Chain deactivation if not upgraded promptly.
Notably, Binance introduced its native token, BNB, in July 2017. BNB BEP-2 now functions as gas fees for ecosystem transactions, while BEP-20 tokens provide smart contract capabilities similar to ERC-20 tokens. Developers emphasize that the existing dual-chain structure hampers BSC’s rapid evolution, hindering development and exposing BNB to potential security risks.
