Ethereum Pectra: The Next Big Update That Will Revolutionize the Network
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Ethereum is preparing a major upgrade called “Pectra,” which aims to improve the speed, scalability, and usability of the network. This upgrade, scheduled to be implemented in two phases starting in 2025, combines the initially planned upgrades “Prague” and “Electra.”
Notable features of Pectra include:
Account Abstraction: It will allow users to pay gas fees using different tokens, not just ETH, and will make it easier for third parties to sponsor these fees.
Smart Contract Efficiency: Proposals such as EIP-7692 aim to speed up the execution of smart contracts, reducing costs and complexity for developers and users.
Validator Improvements: More flexible staking withdrawals will be introduced and the staking limit for validators will be increased from 32 to 2,048 ETH, optimizing system efficiency.
Verkle Tree Implementation: This new data structure will allow nodes to store less information, improving the speed and scalability of the network.
Support for Layer 2 Solutions and PeerDAS: Integration with Layer 2 solutions such as Arbitrum and Optimism will be improved through technologies such as Peer-to-Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS), facilitating faster and cheaper transactions.
Additionally, the EIP-7781 proposal is being considered, which seeks to reduce block generation time from 12 to 8 seconds, which would increase network capacity by 50%. However, this reduction could require validators to upgrade their hardware to handle new processing demands.
These upgrades reflect Ethereum’s ongoing commitment to improving its infrastructure and staying competitive against other emerging platforms such as Solana and Bitcoin.
