Ethereum is about to welcome a major upgrade: Pectra

In the first quarter of 2025, Ethereum will launch an important upgrade codenamed Prague/Electra, commonly referred to as the Prague upgrade or the Pectra upgrade. This upgrade differs from previous major updates, as it does not have a single core objective, but instead focuses on various technical improvements and optimizations. Let's take a look at the key aspects of this upgrade.

Main Features of Pectra Upgrade

1. Significant Advances in Scalability: The upgrade will introduce sharding technology and Layer 2 scaling solutions, greatly enhancing network performance.

2. Enhancement of Security and Stability: By utilizing advanced cryptographic techniques and optimizing the Proof of Stake protocol, further enhance the network's security and stability.

3. Improvement of Developer Experience: Introduce new programming languages, optimize development tools, and streamline the deployment process of smart contracts.

4. Enhancement of User Experience: Users will enjoy a more intuitive interface, lower transaction fees, and a more user-friendly wallet design.

5. Improving Environmental Friendliness: Continuously optimizing energy efficiency to make the Ethereum network more green and environmentally friendly.

Technical Details: Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs)

Verkle tree and statelessness

EIP-2935 will introduce Verkle tree technology to achieve the network's statelessness. This improvement will significantly reduce the computational burden on validating nodes, as they will no longer need to locally store the complete network state.

Lightweight Verification Client

The upgrade plan includes the development of a lightweight verification client that allows users to validate the network without downloading the entire blockchain. This technology is expected to enable ordinary mobile devices to participate in network validation, thereby enhancing the decentralization of Ethereum.

Historical Data Optimization

The EIP-4444 proposal suggests removing historical data from full nodes after a certain period, further reducing the hardware requirements for running nodes. This will make it possible to run nodes within the memory of a regular computer, without needing several TB of storage space.

Consensus Mechanism Improvement

Multiple EIPs aim to improve staking efficiency and network security:

• EIP-6110: Reduce delays in the staking process and simplify validator client software.
• EIP-7251: Enhance network security by controlling the growth of the number of validators.
• Staking limit increase: The maximum staking amount for a single validator has been raised from 32 Ether to 2,048 Ether, optimizing network communication efficiency.
• EIP-7002 and EIP-7549: Provide more options for staking pool developers and improve proof efficiency.

Execution Layer Upgrade

• EIP-2537 and EIP-7865: Enhance interoperability between the mainnet and the beacon chain.
• EVM Object Format (EOF) related EIPs: optimizing the execution efficiency and upgradability of smart contracts.
• EIP-7702: Introduce smart account functionality for regular wallets, supporting batch transactions and more advanced security features.

The Impact of Pectra Upgrade

Impact on Developers

• The improvement of network scalability and the reduction of gas costs will make it possible to build efficient and economical decentralized applications.
• Improved development tools will simplify the creation and deployment process of smart contracts.
• Enhanced security features will help build more reliable applications.
• More comprehensive documentation and a more active ecosystem will improve the overall development experience.

Impact on Users

1. The transaction processing speed has increased, and network congestion has decreased.
2. The reduction in transaction fees makes the Ethereum network more accessible.
3. User interface optimization, including a more intuitive wallet design and token management features.
4. Improving environmental sustainability to attract more environmentally conscious users.

Looking to the Future

The Pectra upgrade will further solidify Ethereum's position as a leader in the decentralized ecosystem by addressing scalability issues, enhancing security, and improving user experience. This upgrade is expected to drive the widespread adoption of blockchain technology, bringing new opportunities and possibilities for developers, users, and the entire community.