Author: Marcel Deer, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Tao Zhu, Golden Finance
1. What is the Ethereum Prague-Electra (Pectra) upgrade?
Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade combines two separate upgrades: the Prague upgrade and the Electra upgrade.
The Prague upgrade focuses on changes to the network’s execution layer, while the Electra upgrade affects the consensus layer. When grouped together, these upgrades are collectively referred to as the “Pectra” upgrades.
The Pectra upgrade will follow “Dencun,” a merger of the Deneb and Cancun upgrades, in March 2024. Technically, Dencun is an Ethereum hard fork designed to reduce transaction fees for Layer 2 solutions.
Pectra is a new milestone on the Ethereum development roadmap and is scheduled to go live in the first quarter of 2025. This timeline allows for the inclusion of additional features to improve the Ethereum user experience (UX).
Pectra may incorporate Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 3074, a set of code changes designed to improve Ethereum wallets by allowing users to batch transactions and sign them in a single step. EIP-3074 was approved in April 2024 and incorporated into the Pectra upgrade, which will be accessible to common crypto wallets.
The Pectra upgrade will also implement EIP-7251, which will increase the validator staking limit from the current 32 Ethereum (ETH) to 2,048 ETH. This increase, which enables validators to hold balances between 32 and 2,048 ETH, is an expansion from the previous 32 ETH limit and is intended to reduce the rate at which new validators join the Ethereum network, which means staking providers.
Upgrades may also include Peer Data Availability Sampling, or PeerDAS, to extend Rollup and the EVM Object Format (EOF) to improve smart contract security and developer experience on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
However, Ethereum developers are discussing whether to replace EIP-3074 with EIP-7702, a new transaction type proposed by developers including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin to enhance account abstraction compatibility. In addition, they are considering implementing a patch for EIP-2935, which solves the problem of handling historical block hashes.
Developers are also considering other EIPs to include in the Pectra upgrade, such as allowing validators to withdraw funds from smart contracts and removing the deposit window.
2. Pectra Upgrade Features and Advantages
The Pectra upgrade focuses on small-scale improvements to the consensus layer and execution layer updates.
EIP-7251: Increase staking limits
As of June 2024, the maximum effective balance of an Ethereum validator is 32 ETH. Therefore, to stake more than 32 ETH, a stake provider must launch multiple validators, each of which must stake 32 ETH. Since each validator must keep pace with the rest of the network, a surge in validators can put pressure on the network's communication layer.
The Pectra upgrade will allow stakers to consolidate their stakes across fewer validators by increasing the maximum effective balance to 2,048 ETH. This will reduce the number of messages that need to be passed around the network, relieving pressure on the validator network layer and potentially improving the efficiency and performance of the network.
PeerDAS/rollup improvements
PeerDAS expands on "blobs" introduced in EIP-4844. Blobs are a new way to optimize transaction data storage in the Ethereum Layer 2 network, increasing block space and reducing transaction fees. They were introduced as part of the Dencun upgrade in March 2024. Transactions carrying blobs are similar to normal Ethereum transactions, but include additional data for off-chain storage, reducing the burden on the Ethereum main chain.
EVM improvements
Improvements to the EVM, such as EOF, are planned to innovate and improve UX, developer experience (DevEx), and performance of both Layer 1 and Layer 2.
3. What is an Ethereum Improvement Proposal?
EIP is a key part of the Ethereum development process and is the way to achieve upgrades to the Ethereum network.
An EIP is a proposal or standard that details potential new features, improvements, or processes for the Ethereum blockchain network. They contain the technical specifications of the proposed changes and, according to Ethereum.org, they serve as the "source of truth" for the community.
Ethereum network upgrades are proposed to the Ethereum development community and discussed and developed through the EIP process. Anyone in the community can create an EIP, and the author is responsible for reaching agreement with the Ethereum development community and recording any opposing opinions.
EIP authors are typically developers. EIPs make changes to Ethereum and are proposed, debated, and, if successful, adopted. Ethereum network upgrades, such as Dencun and Pectra, consist of a set of EIPs that, once finalized, must be implemented by every Ethereum client on the blockchain network.
4. Ethereum Development Roadmap: Prague/Electra Upgrade Schedule
Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade occurs in March 2024, and Pectra is scheduled to go live in 2025.
Ethereum’s post-merge roadmap is part of a five-step process outlined by Buterin to improve the smart contract blockchain after Ethereum switches to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism in September 2022. The five phases are Merge, Surge, Verge, Purge, and Splurge.
Ethereum developers decided not to rush to release Pectra before Devcon in November 2024 to allow developers to monitor the upgrade more effectively based on their experience with previous upgrades.
After Pectra, the next upgrade will likely include the much-anticipated "Verkle tree," a new type of data system that allows Ethereum nodes to store large amounts of data. Pectra is seen as a relatively minor upgrade. According to Tim Beiko, head of protocol support at the Ethereum Foundation, the development of the Verkle tree will take more than a year, and the upgrade will last until 2025. This time the Ethereum network upgrade will be more substantial.
Verkle trees are part of Ethereum’s post-merger roadmap, promising smaller proof sizes and lower node hardware requirements. In a post on X, Vitalik Buterin noted that the Verkle tree feature will allow staking nodes to run with “near zero hard drive space and sync almost instantly” to improve user experience and user-facing light clients.
Verkle trees are being developed as part of the “Verge” phase and may be included in the “Osaka” upgrade, which is likely to occur sometime after the Pectra milestone in 2025.
