The Ethereum network has received its biggest update in two years. We explain what new features have been added and why they are useful for users.

The Pectra update is the biggest technical change to Ethereum since the network switched to the Proof-of-Stake algorithm. It was activated on May 7, 2025, and combined 11 so-called EIPs — proposals for improving the protocol. The update underwent a series of tests on Ethereum test networks (Holesky, Sepolia, and Hoodi) and is now officially live on the mainnet.

Developers call Pectra a preparatory stage for the next major updates, but it is already changing the rules of the game: making wallets smarter, validators more efficient, and L2 networks faster and cheaper. We'll walk you through the key changes and explain how they'll affect users, projects, and infrastructure players.

EIP-7702. Account abstraction and “smart” wallets

One of the main innovations of the Pectra update is the implementation of the account abstraction principle. This means that regular wallets (such as Metamask) can now perform smart contract functions. In practice, this gives users more flexibility: applications can now charge fees in a token other than ETH, such as USDT. Previously, to exchange USDT, you needed to have ETH in your balance to pay the fee, but now you can complete the transaction by paying the fee directly from the funds you already have in your wallet.

It is also now possible to combine several actions into a single transaction (e.g., approval, exchange, and token transfer). This saves time, reduces fees, and simplifies working with DeFi protocols.

In addition, the new features will enable more familiar scenarios: authorization via Face ID instead of a password, access recovery via trusted contacts, and other features that users of traditional applications are accustomed to. According to the developers, all of this brings Web3 closer to the mass user experience.

EIP-7251. Efficient staking for large participants

Previously, on the Ethereum network, a single validator could stake no more than 32 ETH. Anything exceeding this limit had to be divided into separate “slots” — essentially creating new validators. This complicated things for both institutional players and those running their own nodes. With EIP-7251, the limit has been increased to 2,048 ETH per validator.

Why is this necessary? For example, if a large platform wanted to stake 3,200 ETH, it previously had to create 100 separate validators, each with its own set of keys, monitoring, and infrastructure. Now, only two are needed. This reduces the load on the network, simplifies maintenance, and cuts costs.

For the average user, this may not seem that important, but in practice, it means increased performance for large players such as exchanges, staking services, or DeFi platforms. It is easier for them to manage client funds, which means they can offer more favorable terms, connect new users faster, and experience fewer technical glitches.

EIP-7691. Lower fees for second-layer networks

This update directly affects users of so-called rollups such as Arbitrum and Optimism, which operate on top of Ethereum as second-layer networks. It increases the size of special “blobs” — temporary data stores that L2 networks use to publish their transactions to the main blockchain. Now, there can be up to nine such blobs in a single block instead of six.

What does this mean in practice? When you use cheap L2 networks, such as exchanging tokens on Arbitrum, your transactions are ultimately published on the main Ethereum network. The more efficiently this data is packaged, the cheaper the transactions are. Increasing the limit on the number of blobs means more space for such transactions. As a result, fees on L2 networks will become lower and more stable, especially during peak hours.

This is especially important as rollups gain more users, as they are already becoming the primary way to interact with Ethereum. With EIP-7691, projects will be able to scale faster, and users will spend less on fees while maintaining the same speed and reliability.

EIP-7002. Managing fund withdrawals via smart contracts

This update makes operations with validators more flexible and secure. Previously, exiting staking and withdrawing funds required the participation of consensus-level keys, which had to be constantly active and present on the network. This created risks: if such a key was compromised, an attacker could influence the validator or withdraw funds.

With EIP-7002, it is now possible to manage validator exits and fund withdrawals through the execution layer — the part of Ethereum that handles regular transactions and smart contracts. Now, exiting staking and withdrawing funds can be initiated through regular transactions or built-in smart contract logic.

This is important for staking services and large players who need to manage dozens or hundreds of validators. Instead of relying on hot keys, they can set up a more secure and transparent exit procedure, for example, with delays, multi-signature, or other security measures.

This does not directly affect the experience of retail users, but in the long run, it improves the security of the entire system. This is especially true for decentralized services that build products on Ethereum and manage validators on behalf of users.

EIP-6110. Quick start for validators

Previously, after depositing into staking, you had to wait up to 12 hours for the network to process the request through the consensus layer. EIP-6110 moves this function to the execution layer, and now new validators are activated in just 13 minutes.

For large staking pools, this means more precise control over liquidity flows: validators can be launched in near real time, which is especially important during spikes in staking interest or significant market movements. This also simplifies the implementation of features such as auto-deposits and instant distribution of user funds.

Regular users may not notice this directly. But in the future, it lays the foundation for services where funds are automatically staked immediately after being deposited, with activation occurring almost without delay. The improvement also reduces the technical load on operators, which is important, for example, for large pools that process many requests in real time.

Internal improvements

The Pectra update includes a number of improvements that do not directly affect the user interface but make the network faster and more stable.

EIP-2935 allows smart contracts to access the hashes of recent blocks without resorting to external services. This is important for oracles and cross-chain solutions.

EIP-7623 makes storing data in the usual format more expensive to encourage projects to use the “blobs” mentioned above. This helps reduce network congestion and lower fees.

EIP-2537 speeds up the processing of cryptographic operations (in particular, BLS signatures) used in staking. This reduces the load on the network and can lower costs for infrastructure providers.

EIP-7685, EIP-7549, and EIP-7840 improve the Ethereum architecture by optimizing inter-layer communication, increasing stability, and making fee calculations more predictable. #ETH