The post Pectra progress: Gas refunds, audits and Ethereum leadership talk appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe. In the first ACD call of the year following the holiday break, Ethereum core developers were focused on tying up loose ends on the upcoming Pectra hard fork. Devnet 5, which went live shortly before the call, may be the last [network implemented] before moving on to the testnet phase, tentatively scheduled to begin in early February. System contracts for Pectra underwent bytecode audits, with all changes already implemented. A follow-up presentation on audit findings will occur in two weeks. A significant part of the discussion focused on refining the gas refund mechanisms. EIP-7623, which aims to clarify the handling of gas refunds, was successfully merged, resolving issues with the order of gas refund application. A fix addresses a lingering point for Pectra, ensuring that transaction gas costs align with expected outcomes. Another key feature under scrutiny was EIP-7840, which pertains to base fee updates in Ethereum’s future. Marek Moraczyński from the Nethermind team provided context for a proposal aiming to streamline configuration and bring consistency to Ethereum, enhancing network efficiency. As Ethereum looks to pick off any low-hanging fruit to help with scaling, other improvements are working their way toward developer consensus. One, related to BLS precompilation gas costs under EIP-2537, seeks to align gas constants with prior assumptions. Radek Zagórowicz from the Ipsilon team explained that “the easiest fix to the spec is…correcting the constant so it follows their previous assumptions.” This adjustment ensures gas costs are consistent, aligning with Ethereum’s larger goal of efficient scalability. Gas limits on the Holesky testnet were discussed, with a proposal to keep them elevated, relative to mainnet, for testing purposes. For instance, the gas limit would increase to 60 million after the Pectra fork, and progressively rise with…

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Filed under: News - @ January 17, 2025 6:22 pm