The Ethereum Foundation announces the launch of the first short-term Pectra testnet Mekong, marking a key advancement for the Pectra fork. The Mekong testnet integrates all upcoming EIP proposals that will be used for the Pectra fork, including user experience improvements from EIP-7702 and staking changes from EIP-7251. This testnet provides a platform for wallet developers and stakers to experiment with and familiarize themselves with new features, which are expected to be gradually integrated into the public testnet and eventually into the Ethereum mainnet.