What Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) and Ethereum Request for Comments (ERCs) should we closely monitor in 2025?
Article author: Kazu Umemoto
Source: Bankless
Article compiled by: Odaily Planet Daily
In 2024, Ethereum introduced blob space through the Dencun upgrade, making significant progress in the rollup-centric direction and helping L2 reduce transaction costs by 10 to 100 times.
What Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) and Ethereum Request for Comments (ERCs) should we closely monitor in 2025?
This article will highlight five Ethereum upgrades worth monitoring, some of which are confirmed to launch in the Pectra upgrade, while others will take longer to implement but are attracting attention from some well-known supporters.
EIP-3074
A prominent improvement in the Pectra upgrade is EIP-3074. Users can merge multiple transactions into one, allowing project teams to fund user transactions and pay their gas fees while also introducing a method to recover wallets in case users lose their private keys.
EIP-3074 introduces new Ethereum opcodes. This system will allow EOA users to authorize smart contracts to perform operations on their behalf in a single transaction while maintaining security and control without permanently transferring their private keys.
These new opcodes implement the following user-friendly utilities:
1. Transaction batching - batching multiple transactions (e.g., multiple token transfers) into a single operation.
2. Sponsored transactions - the ability for third parties to pay for transactions, opening up new avenues for applications to cover gas fees for their users.
3. Conditional transactions - complex transaction structures where multiple steps can be linked together and executed conditionally, such as executing a transaction only when certain conditions are met without requiring separate transactions for each step.
4. Meta transactions - the ability to sign transactions that can be submitted by another party, for example, signing a transaction offline or from another interface without requiring ETH as gas.
5. Delegated security - by allowing trusted callers to manage transactions, users can benefit from advanced security models, such as those involving multi-signature setups.
EIP-3074 is the next major step in the future development of the Ethereum account model. It serves as a short-term remedy before the rise of ERC-4337, but its improvement in user experience (UX) is significant.
EIP-7251
For validators holding a large amount of ETH, EIP-7251 is undoubtedly a proposal of higher value. It allows validators to receive additional staking rewards beyond the standard staking amount of 32 ETH. Previously, any amount staked above 32 ETH remained idle. Validators wanting to stake additional ETH had to set up a brand new validation node and invest an extra 32 ETH. With EIP-7251, validators can stake all their ETH using a single validation node.
This improvement is expected to attract large institutions to run their own validation nodes and further engage with the Ethereum ecosystem.
Additionally, this proposal, as part of the Pectra upgrade, may enhance the Ethereum network's speed through the integration of validation nodes. For example, projects like Lido can reduce the number of running validation nodes and earn rewards on top of the standard staking amount of 32 ETH.
EIP-7002
As part of the Pectra upgrade, EIP-7002 addresses some significant risk issues in the operation of validation nodes.
For example, if you want to receive rewards for running a validation node but don't want to deal with complex operations, you can delegate this task to a validation node operator and hand over your validation key to them (the validation key is used to validate and propose blocks). However, when you want to withdraw ETH, you must use the validation key to sign a 'voluntary exit message' to complete the operation. If the operator deliberately obstructs by not signing this message, or if the validation key is leaked, your ETH may be maliciously withheld or even extorted.
EIP-7002 provides a solution allowing stakers to withdraw ETH simply by extracting the key. This improvement eliminates the risk of malicious operators refusing to sign exit messages and reduces the likelihood of ETH being locked up due to leaked validation keys.
ERC-7683
In recent years, intents have been one of the hot topics in DeFi. ERC-7683 is a token standard aimed directly at addressing cross-chain interoperability issues and defining a shared structure for cross-chain intents. This standard 'is like an order ticket that anyone can create and any resolver can fulfill.'
ERC-7683 was first proposed in 2024, co-drafted by Uniswap and Across Protocol. ERC-7683 aims to standardize Intents, bringing multiple benefits to the Ethereum ecosystem:
1. Unify Ethereum: Establish universal standards for cross-chain operations across L2 and sidechains, supporting Ethereum's goal as the leading decentralized application platform.
2. Achieve interoperability: Standardize order and settlement interfaces for seamless cross-chain execution.
3. Eliminate fragmentation: Provide a universal framework to coordinate different systems for smoother cross-chain operations.
4. Enhance user experience: Provide users with simplified, intuitive, and frictionless cross-chain interactions.
5. Enhance liquidity: Allow DApps to access cross-chain shared filling networks, providing deeper liquidity.
6. Accelerate transactions: Reduce failure rates and speed up transaction times by fostering competition among fillers.
7. Promote innovation: Change the cross-chain landscape by facilitating collaboration and encouraging innovative solutions on Ethereum.
ERC-7841
ERC-7841 is an innovative token standard that proposes a low-level message format and API for applications to send messages to other chains or receive messages from other chains.
1. ERC-7841 abstracts chain-specific logic from applications, meaning the same application can be deployed across multiple chains without changing how it sends/receives messages.
2. ERC-7841 is a modular foundation that only specifies the information necessary for routing messages between applications. This allows specific message types (e.g., bridge or intent message types) to be flexibly built on a single interface rather than each message type.
3. ERC-7841 is compatible with synchronous messaging protocols (like CIRC) and asynchronous messaging protocols (like most existing protocols and CIRC).
While there are other EIPs with similar goals, the ongoing heated discussion surrounding ERC-7841 indicates strong momentum in the field of interoperability.
