Epic upgrade! What tricks will Pectra play?
Ethereum's most significant upgrade, Pectra, is scheduled for March, directly merging the originally separate Prague and Electra upgrades, with the core being three words: Fast, Economical, Stable!
Fast: The capacity of Layer2 has doubled, expanding the blobs from 3 to 6; congestion? Nonexistent!
Savings: Gas fees cut in half, and you can even pay fees with USDC or DAI; ETH is no longer the only option.
Stable: Stakers rejoice—up to 2048 ETH can be staked in a single address (originally 32), no need for large holders to open 64 wallets to fuss around!
Key point: The biggest gimmick of this upgrade is 'zero Gas fees', but don't rush to celebrate! Zero Gas does not mean completely free; third-party project teams (like Uniswap) can help you cover the fees, similar to 'free shipping promotions', but ultimately someone has to pay the cost.
Technical hard work: Even the whales are silent.
Smart wallets (account abstraction):
Wallets can operate like smart contracts, batching transactions and saving 50% on fees;
No need to worry about losing your private key, use 'social recovery' to find friends to help you retrieve it (for example, set 5 trusted contacts, and 3 approvals are enough to unlock).
Data storage black technology (Verkle Trees):
In simple terms, it's a 'more space-efficient warehouse management system', reducing storage pressure on nodes by half and increasing transaction verification speed. With PeerDAS technology, nodes can verify without storing complete data, maximizing efficiency!
Staking liberalization:
Flexible withdrawals: Validators want to exit? No more waiting in line, can withdraw anytime;
Good news for large holders: The single address staking cap has been raised from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH, making it easier for institutions to enter.
Warning: Deadly hidden dangers behind the upgrade
Client monopoly:
Currently, over 70% of nodes use the Geth client; if there's a bug, the entire network could crash. Refer to the June 2024 Obol report—the lack of client diversity is Ethereum's biggest soft spot!
Staking centralization:
The 2048 ETH staking cap seems beneficial, but it may allow whales and exchanges (like Coinbase) to monopolize voting rights, triggering regulatory crackdowns.
Dependency on cloud services:
65% of global nodes run on AWS and Hetzner servers; if Amazon goes down, will Ethereum collapse?
Testnet crash report:
When Pectra was activated on the Holesky testnet in February, it got stuck in the 'finality' stage for two weeks (transactions could not be confirmed), and finally relied on 'shadow forks' to fix it. This scenario is exactly like last year's Dencun upgrade crashing on the Goerli testnet—Ethereum upgrades have always been a dance on the knife's edge!
How can ordinary players benefit?
Layer2 frenzy:
After Pectra goes live, Layer2 fees like Arbitrum and Optimism will be cut in half again, the yield farmers and small projects will go crazier, so prepare to ambush related ecosystem tokens (like ARB, OP)!
Staking lying profits:
Large holders can bet up to 2048 ETH in a single address, with an annual yield of 4%-6% (based on current data); retail investors are advised to pool through platforms like Lido and Rocket Pool to avoid being cut by whales.
Gas fee-sensitive parties:
Wait for wallets that support USDC for Gas payment (like the Metamask update), saving the hassle of converting to ETH.
Vitalik's call: Ethereum's 'war mode'
Faced with doubts about Layer2 snatching traffic and diluting ETH's value, Vitalik urgently spoke out in January this year:
Layer2 must give back to ETH: All second-layer networks should destroy or stake a portion of their fees to add value to ETH.
Standardized cross-chain: Create a unified protocol for seamless asset transfers between Layer2.
Safety first: Who dares to play censorship in Layer2 will be kicked out of the ecosystem!
Old-school sharp commentary: Pectra's upgrade is Ethereum's 'D-Day', if successful, it will unify the Layer2 realm; if failed, it might be overtaken by Solana and Bitcoin ecosystems.
But no matter what, the zero Gas pie is already drawn, and the whales' sickles are sharpened. Are you ready to take the plunge or be harvested?
Need help? Comment to get support from top teams.
I am old school, supported by top teams, serving only ambitious madmen (serious inquiries only).