According to BlockBeats, Ethereum continues to evolve with the launch of the Dencun upgrade in March 2024. This upgrade, a fusion of 'Deneb' and 'Cancun', aimed to significantly reduce L2 transaction costs. The next significant upgrade for Ethereum is Pectra, which is expected to be even more important than Dencun.
Pectra is scheduled for launch in the fourth quarter of 2024 or the first quarter of 2025. It combines two previously planned upgrades: Prague (for the execution layer) and Electra (for the consensus layer). By merging, Pectra aims to bring several ambitious improvements to Ethereum, making it more flexible and optimized than ever before.
Pectra is not just a minor upgrade; it is filled with updates. Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) are proposed modifications to Ethereum. They ensure transparent discussion and agreement on network changes and involve the community and core developers.
For the Pectra upgrade, nine standard EIPs and a meta EIP composed of another 11 EIPs are currently planned to be included. These EIPs include enhancements to account abstraction, validator operations, and overall network performance. Some of the most notable new features include EIP-2537, EIP-2935, EIP-7002, EIP-7251, EIP-7594, EIP-7702, and EIP-7692.
In the post-Pectra era, Ethereum will cater to a wider range of use cases and user needs. Regular Ethereum accounts will be more programmable, L2 will be more affordable, smart contracts will be more efficient, and validators will manage more flexibly! With these enhancements, Ethereum will be better equipped to handle growing adoption, integrate with other networks, and introduce new features, keeping the platform at the forefront of on-chain innovation.
While nothing is currently set in stone, the Ethereum community is focusing on implementing Verkle trees in the Osaka upgrade after Pectra. 'I'm really looking forward to Verkle trees,' Vitalik said earlier this year. 'They will enable stateless validator clients, which can let staking nodes run with almost zero disk space and sync almost instantly—better solo staking user experience.'
That being said, Ethereum's next upgrade will significantly improve the chain's usability for users and developers. Ethereum cannot be built in a day, but steady progress is the key to building the future-oriented network that Ethereum is realizing.