Ethereum's Latest Meeting: Pectra Upgrade to Launch in Q1 Next Year – What Are the EVM Improvement Proposals EOF and EIP-7702?

Yesterday (6th), Ethereum core developers conducted the 189th All Core Developers Execution (ACDE) conference call, which was summarized by Tim Beiko, the meeting's host, on X.

The next major update for Ethereum, the "Pectra Upgrade," will include EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals), focusing on EOF (EVM Object Format) and the account abstraction proposal EIP-7702 by Vitalik Buterin.

Pectra Upgrade to Include EOF and EIP-7702

In this meeting, participants agreed to implement EOF and EIP-7702 in the Pectra upgrade, although EOF will not be included in the devnet-1 testnet. Tim Beiko stated:

"We will gradually expand the scope of the devnets to better coordinate cross-client testing. If during the implementation or testing process we find that EOF impacts Pectra's progress, we can always split it into a separate fork network."

What Are EOF and EIP-7702?

EOF is an upgrade proposal for the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), aimed at improving EVM's scalability and security. It encompasses 11 EIPs that collectively address current inefficiencies, high execution costs, and security issues in the EVM design, and will enhance the EVM code for both Ethereum Layer 1 and Layer 2. It was initially planned for implementation in the Shanghai upgrade but was later removed.(github)

EIP-7702 is an account abstraction proposal by Vitalik Buterin, intended to replace "EIP-3074." This proposal introduces a new transaction type that allows externally owned accounts (EOAs) to temporarily adopt smart contract features during transactions and then revert to their original state after the transaction concludes. This new transaction type can improve account abstraction functionality, avoid the security issues of EIP-3074, and achieve all use cases of EIP-3074 without needing a hard fork.

The meeting also discussed potential issues with EIP-7702 due to nonce/balance/codehash being zero when creating accounts, indicating that the proposal still needs adjustments and testing. If there are no issues, it will be implemented in the Verkle fork.

Pectra Upgrade Scheduled for Q1 Next Year In the previous ACDE meeting, Ethereum core developers decided to aim for the release of the Pectra upgrade in the first quarter of 2025.

Additionally, the Pectra upgrade will include EIP-7251 (also known as the "Increase Maximum Effective Balance" proposal), raising the ETH staking cap per validator from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH. This proposal is expected to significantly reduce the number of validators, thereby easing the management burden on operators.