The Ethereum Pectra Upgrade, launched on May 7, 2025, is a significant milestone in Ethereum's evolution, combining the Prague (execution layer) and Electra (consensus layer) upgrades. This comprehensive update introduces 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) aimed at enhancing scalability, user experience, and validator efficiency.
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Key Features of the Pectra Upgrade
1. Enhanced Validator Capabilities (EIP-7251)
Increased Staking Limit: Validators can now stake up to 2,048 ETH, a substantial increase from the previous 32 ETH limit.
Benefits: This change allows for the consolidation of multiple validators into a single node, reducing network congestion and improving efficiency.
2. Smart Wallet Functionality (EIP-7702)
Account Abstraction: Introduces smart contract capabilities to wallets, enabling features like batched transactions and gas fee payments using ERC-20 tokens.
User Experience: Simplifies interactions by allowing users to perform multiple actions in a single transaction and pay fees with various tokens.
3. Improved Layer-2 Scalability
Blob Capacity Increase: The number of data blobs per block has been increased from 3 to 6, with a maximum of 9.
Impact: This enhancement is expected to reduce Layer-2 transaction fees by up to 40%, benefiting rollups like Arbitrum and Optimism.
4. Faster Validator Onboarding (EIP-6110)
On-Chain Deposits: Validator deposits are now supplied on-chain, reducing the activation time for new validators by approximately 48 hours.
5. Self-Service Withdrawals (EIP-7002)
Execution Layer Exits: Validators can now initiate withdrawals directly through the execution layer without requiring operator signatures, enhancing flexibility and security.
6. EVM Object Format (EOF) Introduction
Smart Contract Efficiency: The adoption of EOF improves smart contract deployment and execution, making them more efficient and easier to audit.
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