Ethereum Pectra Upgrade Set for Testing—What It Means for ETH
The post Ethereum Pectra Upgrade Set for Testing—What It Means for ETH appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Ethereum developers have scheduled testnet trials for Pectra, set to begin on February 26. If successful, the long-awaited upgrade could go live in April. The upgrade merges Prague and Electra updates, with EIP-7702 improving smart contract wallets and EIP-7251 raising the validator staking limit to optimize node operations. Ethereum developers have confirmed test dates for Pectra, marking the network’s first major upgrade in nearly a year. The long-anticipated update aims to enhance wallets and validators but comes as Ethereum faces growing pressure from its community. Competitors such as Solana continue gaining traction, raising concerns about Ethereum’s ability to maintain its lead. Testing will begin on February 26 on the Holesky testnet, followed by a second round on March 5 using the Sepolia testnet. If both phases proceed without issues, developers will meet on March 6 to finalize the launch timeline. According to Tim Beiko, Ethereum Foundation’s protocol support lead, Pectra could go live on the mainnet in early April. Pectra is going live 🥳 Holesky will fork at slot 3710976 (Mon, Feb 24 at 21:55:12 UTC)Sepolia will fork at slot 7118848 (Wed, Mar 5 at 07:29:36 UTC) Assuming Sepolia goes smoothly, we’ll pick the mainnet slot on the March 6 ACD call 📅 — timbeiko.eth (@TimBeiko) February 6, 2025 The upgrade merges two separate updates, Prague and Electra, into a single release, forming the name “Pectra.” Among eight key improvements, EIP-7702 stands out for its impact on crypto wallets. It enhances smart contract functionality within externally owned accounts (EOAs), improving user experience and enabling gas fee payments in tokens other than ETH. Staking Limit Jump — 32 to 2048 ETH EIP-7251 introduces a significant shift by raising the validator staking limit from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH. The update optimizes node operations, enabling larger validators to merge infrastructure. Staking beyond…
Filed under: News - @ February 8, 2025 5:19 am