Introduction
As the world's second-largest cryptocurrency and a leading smart contract platform, Ethereum plays a crucial role in the blockchain world. To continuously improve performance, security, and scalability, Ethereum has been conducting regular upgrades.
According to the core developer meeting held last Thursday (1/16), the highly anticipated Pectra upgrade is confirmed to take place this March; this will mark another important milestone in the development history of Ethereum, symbolizing its move towards a more efficient and user-friendly blockchain network.
This article will delve into the core content of the Pectra upgrade and its significance for the Ethereum network and users, guiding readers to understand how this important upgrade will shape the future of Ethereum.
What is the Ethereum Pectra upgrade?
Ethereum's upgrades are aimed at addressing the growing user demands and technical challenges, with the goal of improving network performance, enhancing security, increasing scalability, and improving user experience. In the past, Ethereum has undergone several significant upgrades, such as:
The 'Merge' in 2022 transitioned Ethereum from Proof of Work (PoW) to a more energy-efficient Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.
The 'Shanghai' upgrade in 2023 implemented the withdrawal function for staked Ethereum, further enhancing network availability and flexibility.
The 'Cancun' upgrade in 2024 will improve the scalability and performance of the blockchain by introducing technologies such as EIP-4844, optimizing data storage and transaction speed, and effectively reducing the gas fees required for transactions.
Each upgrade brings significant improvements to Ethereum (more details can be found in the official 'The history of Ethereum'), and the Pectra upgrade further enhances Ethereum's functionality and efficiency based on these achievements.
This Pectra upgrade includes many Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), which aim to improve various aspects of the Ethereum network. Below are some major EIPs in the Pectra upgrade:
Core EIPs:
EIP-7251: Increase the maximum effective balance of validators from 32 Ether (ETH) to 2,048 ETH, allowing large staking providers to consolidate their stakes, reduce the number of validators, and alleviate network burden. This also provides smaller stakers with more flexible staking options, such as staking 40 ETH or receiving compound rewards.
EIP-3074 and EIP-7702: These two EIPs are related to account abstraction. EIP-3074 allows traditional wallets to interact with smart contracts, such as supporting batch transactions and sponsored transactions, while EIP-7702 allows EOA wallets to temporarily act as smart contract wallets during transactions.
Other Important EIPs:
EIP-7002: Allows validators to trigger withdrawals through the execution layer, enhancing security.
EIP-7594 (PeerDAS): Introduces peer-to-peer data availability sampling, which will make transaction costs on Layer 2 cheaper.
EIP-6110: Shifts the verification responsibility for new staking ETH deposits from the consensus layer to the execution layer, improving the security of deposits, reducing the complexity of consensus layer clients, and enhancing the staking user experience.
EIP-2935: Allows proof of historical blocks generated from the state, providing more functionality for smart contract developers and preparing for the Verkle upgrade transition.
EIP-7685: Establishes a universal architecture for storing consensus layer requests triggered by smart contracts, providing more trustless designs for staking applications.
EIP-2537: Introduces precompiles for BLS 12-381 curve operations, which can enhance the security of zero-knowledge proofs.
EIP-7691: Adjusts the target value for the number of Blobs in each block from 3 to 6, and raises the maximum number of Blobs from 6 to 9, providing cheaper storage space for Rollups.
Please note that this is just an overview of some of the major EIPs in the Pectra upgrade; the actual EIPs included may be more numerous and may change as the development process progresses.
Too complicated, can you put it in simpler terms?
Feeling dizzy from all these EIPs? Simply put, the core content of the Pectra upgrade covers multiple aspects, and these technological highlights will collectively drive the evolution of the Ethereum network, bringing a better experience for users and developers. The main categories can be summarized as follows:
Account Abstraction: The Pectra upgrade will realize account abstraction, meaning that externally owned accounts (EOAs) will be able to operate like smart contracts. This will bring many advantages, such as:
Users can pay gas fees using different tokens, no longer limited to ETH.
Enabling more convenient transaction batching, such as approving USDC and exchanging it for UNI in a single transaction.
DApps can sponsor gas fees for users, lowering the barrier to entry.
Users can pre-approve the DApps they want to use and set spending limits.
Smart wallet features will be more complete, supporting recurring payments, automatic payments, and more.
Higher transaction throughput and lower transaction costs: The Pectra upgrade will enhance transaction throughput and reduce transaction costs through multiple technological improvements, including:
Introduction of 'Blob Space' technology, which can more efficiently process and store data.
Increase the number of Blobs per block, providing cheaper storage space for Rollups.
Implementation of Peer-to-Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS) to further reduce transaction costs on Rollups.
Enhanced security: The Pectra upgrade will introduce new security mechanisms to enhance the security of the Ethereum network, such as:
Optimized cryptographic methods, such as supporting BLS 12-381 curve operations, which can enhance the security of zero-knowledge proofs.
Improved deposit and exit mechanisms for validator nodes, increasing security.
Optimized staking mechanism: The Pectra upgrade will optimize Ethereum's staking mechanisms, such as:
Increase the staking limit for validator nodes from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH. This will allow large staking service providers to consolidate their stakes, reduce the number of validator nodes, and alleviate network burden. At the same time, smaller stakers can also choose staking options more flexibly.
Simplified withdrawal process for staking ETH.
Reduce the ETH staking queue time from several hours to a few minutes. The Pectra upgrade will bring multiple significant improvements to the Ethereum network, making it more powerful, secure, and efficient, providing a better experience for users and developers.
Impact on the Ethereum Ecosystem
The Ethereum Pectra upgrade will have a significant impact on users, developers, and the entire ecosystem. The focus of this upgrade is to enhance the performance, security, and user experience of the Ethereum network.
For users, account abstraction will make transactions more convenient and secure, while also lowering the barrier to entry. Users can pay gas fees with stablecoins and even enjoy free transactions sponsored by third parties. The Pectra upgrade will also make the Ethereum network faster and cheaper, allowing users to enjoy a smoother transaction experience. Additionally, improvements in the staking mechanism will enable more users to participate in network security and receive corresponding rewards.
For developers, the Pectra upgrade will bring higher efficiency in smart contracts, a simplified development process, and a more secure development environment. The upgrade of EVM and account abstraction will provide developers with more opportunities for innovation and application development.
From the perspective of the ecosystem, the Pectra upgrade will further solidify Ethereum's position as a leading smart contract platform, attracting more users and developers to join. The upgraded Layer 2 solutions will be more efficient, and the degree of decentralization of the network will also be improved.
Where is the future of Ethereum?
The Pectra upgrade is an important step in the 'Ethereum Development Blueprint' that will lay the foundation for the ultimate vision of Ethereum 2.0. The goal of Ethereum 2.0 is to create a fully scalable, highly secure, and user-friendly blockchain network to meet the demands of the Web3 era.
After the Pectra upgrade, Ethereum will continue to move towards greater scalability and richer functionalities. The upcoming Fusaka upgrade is expected to introduce more technological innovations, such as Verkle Tree, further enhancing Ethereum's performance and efficiency. The next two images are the EIPs 'not included in Pectra upgrade' and 'considered for inclusion in Fusaka upgrade'; interested readers can refer to them:
In the process of ongoing evolution, Ethereum also faces some challenges, such as maintaining decentralization, ensuring security, and competing with other blockchain networks. However, each challenge comes with new opportunities. The Pectra upgrade will help Ethereum overcome existing challenges and seize future opportunities, solidifying its position as a leading blockchain platform.
Conclusion
The Ethereum Pectra upgrade is a significant event in the development process of blockchain technology, symbolizing an important step towards a more powerful and user-friendly blockchain network. The Pectra upgrade will enhance Ethereum's performance, security, scalability, and usability, providing a better experience for users and developers and promoting the thriving development of the Ethereum ecosystem.
I personally believe that the future of Ethereum is still full of hope, and the Pectra upgrade will inject new vitality into the ongoing evolution and innovative development of Ethereum. Moreover, the subsequent upgrades are still in the pipeline, and sometimes letting the bullets fly for a while is not a bad thing.
Crow's Ramblings
Talking about Ethereum seems to be a bit of a headwind now, especially when the price hasn’t risen. Many people follow the trend and criticize it, but has Ethereum done nothing? Many only criticize the foundation for selling coins but fail to see them discussing how to optimize the blockchain network and make it more user-friendly.
When an industry is only left with the voices of KOLs, it is quite sad. After all, many people are not silent; they just think that doing their own things seriously is a wiser choice than shouting on the internet with certain people. Every time I see some people tagging Vitalik, it’s either to ask about the price of Ether or to mock him for being infatuated with women or animals; frankly, I feel it’s not worth it for Vitalik. Who doesn't have a girlfriend? Who doesn't want to raise a pet?
References
Official Information or Articles
Ethereum
Ethereum EIPs
Upcoming Ethereum Upgrades & Catalysts
Glamsterdam: The Next Upgrade After Fusaka
Youtube Video
What’s Going Into the Pectra Upgrade? by Christine Kim | Devcon SEA
Ethereum Pectra Upgrade: What Stakers Need to Know
ETH To Skyrocket In 2025? Pectra Explained
Ethereum Pectra Will Change Everything! What Will Ethereum Be Like From Now On