The next major upgrade of Ethereum merges the originally two independent phases (Prague execution layer and Electra consensus layer) into one upgrade, with the goal of making the network faster, cheaper, and more powerful.

• Upgrade highlights:

• More flexible Gas fee payment: After introducing 'account abstraction', users can pay transaction fees using tokens like USDC and DAI, without needing to hold ETH specifically.

• Faster smart contract execution: Improving the efficiency of the Ethereum virtual machine accelerates contract operations, which means faster transaction confirmations and lower costs.

• Staking optimization: The maximum ETH that can be locked in a single staking account increases from 32 to 2048, allowing excess ETH to also earn rewards, resulting in higher staking yields.

• Stronger scalability: New technologies such as Verkle trees are introduced to make node data storage more efficient, while enhancing Layer2 processing capabilities, supporting more transactions and reducing costs.

• Impact on ordinary users: This means using Ethereum becomes more convenient: you no longer need to hold ETH specifically to pay fees (stablecoins, etc. can be used), allowing for more flexible interactions with various applications and services. At the same time, with improved network efficiency, transaction congestion decreases, fees are lower, confirmation speeds up, and the overall user experience improves.

• What ordinary users should do: Continue using your Ethereum wallet as usual, with no extra actions needed—after the upgrade, transaction costs will be lower, and the experience smoother.

What is Pectra: Pectra is an important major upgrade of the Ethereum network aimed at making it run faster, cheaper, and more user-friendly.

Main upgrades:

• Lower fees: The network processes transactions more efficiently, resulting in lower transaction fees than before.

• Multi-currency payments: In the future, you can use different types of coins to pay fees, not just ETH.

• Faster operation: The network execution speed improves, allowing for more applications to run simultaneously, leading to a smoother experience for everyone.

Changes for ordinary users: Ordinary users will find that transaction fees are lower when using Ethereum, and they can use other coins to pay fees, making the overall experience more hassle-free.

Summary: In short, this upgrade means that the Ethereum network becomes more efficient, easier to use, and less expensive.