- Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade is now in final testing on the Sepolia testnet, with the mainnet rollout set for mid-March 2025.
- Major changes include staking enhancements, account abstraction, and scalability improvements, aiming to make Ethereum more efficient and user-friendly.
Ethereum’s latest upgrade, Pectra, successfully went live on the Sepolia testnet today at around 2:30 am ET. Ethereum core developer Terence confirmed that the transition occurred smoothly, maintaining a strong proposal rate. It marks a major step forward as the network prepares for the full mainnet rollout in March 2025.
Sepolia just finalized with a perfect proposal rate 🎯 https://t.co/THU1zn1znm pic.twitter.com/wayGk0cHpt
— terence (@terencechain) March 5, 2025
Pectra, the Electra and Prague upgrade hybrid, offers 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) that aim to improve Ethereum scalability, the efficacy of staking, and the end-user experience. The upgrades include EIP-2935, EIP-7002, and EIP-7251, which address crucial aspects of the system.
According to blockchain expert Anuj Shankar, Pectra was divided into several phases because of its sheer magnitude. The first phase, to be implemented next year, will implement significant improvements to the mechanisms of staking and transaction processing.
2/ Pectra is one of Ethereum’s largest upgrades yet, with 11 EIPs in total. In fact, its sheer size led to it being split into two packages! While many have covered its technical details, let’s explore its long-term impact on Ethereum’s roadmap. 👇 pic.twitter.com/E5QxuNzLOk
— Anuj Shankar (@anujshankar95) March 3, 2025
The final objective is to bring about greater efficiency and decentralization in Ethereum and allow it to process more transactions per second.
EIP-7251 Raises Validator Cap to 2048 ETH
Ethereum’s staking will be revolutionized through the introduction of EIP-7251, which will increase the maximum stake to 2048 ETH per validator from the current 32 ETH. This will encourage a larger aggregation of staking to alleviate the load on the network and enable more efficient reward compounding.
However, there are issues regarding decentralization, where larger validators will control the ecosystem. EIP-7002 has introduced execution-layer-triggered withdrawals to enable validators to leave the staking process more effectively. This will make operations easier for staking pools and enhance liquidity for the stakers.
Another significant upgrade that comes along with EIP-7702 is that wallets will be able to act like smart contracts. Payments will be facilitated using gas fees that are not necessarily ETH but could be USDC instead.
This makes transactions easier to use and more flexible. This shift fits within Ethereum’s grand vision to make the ecosystem easier to use and more accessible.
Ethereum’s Next Milestone Set for 2026 With Verkle Trees and More
Ethereum’s ongoing pursuit is to accelerate transactions and lower fees, and that’s where Pectra enters the picture. The integration of Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS) enhances the method of validating data within Ethereum, taking the network one step closer to complete decentralization.
ETH Pectra Upgrade on Horizon
I have enjoyed my fair share of ETH fud posts but no shitposting today, although price action makes it hard.
I do want to briefly share the highlights of Pectra:
Pectra upgrade combines two planned updates—Prague and Electra—into one…
— Yogi (@HouseofYogiX) March 5, 2025
Furthermore, scalability-focused EIPs such as 7691 and 7623 simplify the handling of data and optimize Layer 2 communications. With the integration of Pectra, Ethereum is inching toward the fulfillment of its vision of being capable of handling over 100,000 transactions per second.
Rollups will benefit the most from this, making the system more efficient and cost-saving to both users and developers. Ethereum’s next milestone arrives in 2026.
This next stage will include additional improvements like Verkle trees that will further optimize the efficiency of the storage of the nodes. The continuous evolution of the network means that it will remain competitive within the market of blockchains.