Ethereum is planning one of the biggest updates in its history – Pectra. It promises significant acceleration and cost reduction in network operations.
Key Dates and Events
Ethereum plans to activate the first phase of the Pectra update on the mainnet by mid-March 2025, as decided at the Ethereum All Execution Developers Meeting #203 on January 16, 2025. Work on the Sepolia testnet will begin on February 12, 2025, followed by Holesky a week later. Developers also agreed to replace the next devnet with a 'shadow fork' of Sepolia or Holesky.
Features of Pectra: What's New
The Pectra update is one of the most ambitious in the history of cryptocurrencies. It includes innovations to improve interaction between accounts and smart contracts, and changes to the staking mechanism, allowing users to stake up to 2048 ETH, compared to the current 32 ETH limit. Increasing blob space may boost transaction speed to 1600 per second for some EVM L2 networks.
Impact on the Market and Ethereum Development
The Pectra update could significantly impact the cryptocurrency market and Ethereum's development trajectory. Cost optimization with the EIP 7702 may make the network more economically beneficial. As of publication, Ethereum is trading at $3,430, up 5% in the last 24 hours.
The Pectra upgrade could be a game changer for Ethereum, expanding the possibilities for decentralized finance.
