Ethereum Core Developers Unveil Details on Pectra Upgrade: What to Expect

During the 139th All Core Developers Consensus (ACDC) call, Ethereum developers reviewed the progress and challenges of the Pectra upgrade. Key points included the stability of Devnet 2, communication improvements, and transitions in protocol standards.

Pectra Devnet 2 Updates

Ethereum Foundation researcher Hsiao Wei Wang is preparing to release the alpha.4 version of the Pectra consensus layer specifications, which includes several bug fixes. Developer Operations Engineer Barnabas Busa reported that Devnet 2 has achieved 85% network participation, demonstrating stability. However, issues persist with the execution layer (EL) clients, notably EthereumJS and Erigon, along with minor problems in the Prysm client.

Further investigation is needed for Lighthouse, Teku, and Besu node issues, according to Parithosh Jayanthi, another Ethereum Foundation DevOps Engineer.

Enhanced Communication and Coordination

The call highlighted past communication lapses during Devnet 2's launch. To address these issues, developers agreed to establish weekly meetings to keep all client teams informed about Pectra testing updates. These meetings, scheduled for Mondays, will last between 15 and 30 minutes and cover Devnet activities, including PeerDAS and EOF.

For Devnet 3, developers plan to replicate Devnet 2's setup with updates to EIP 7702. However, Gajinder Singh from Lodestar raised concerns regarding EIP 7251 and its issues with validator staked ETH deposit balances, which will be tested further in the next devnet.

Mplex Deprecation and Protocol Transition

The transition from Mplex, a protocol used for data stream multiplexing, was discussed. Phil Ngo from Lodestar mentioned the completion of yamux testing, a new multiplexer, and suggested a full transition to avoid overhead. Etan Kissling from Nimbus is still testing yamux, and developers agreed to revisit this topic after further testing.

EIP 7688 and Upgrade Considerations

The inclusion of EIP 7688, which introduces a forward-compatible data structure for smart contracts, was debated. Some developers expressed concerns about adding it to the already extensive Pectra upgrade. It was suggested that testing EIP 7688 could be considered for Devnet 5, with current recommendations focusing on stabilising existing Pectra EIPs first.

PeerDAS and Node Distribution

The Prysm team provided updates on PeerDAS implementation, sparking a debate on the necessity of the “blobsidecar” Engine API request and potential impacts of removing sampling from PeerDAS. EIP 7742, which proposes uncoupling the blob gas limit between the EL and CL, was also discussed, with plans to revisit this in a future call.

Blockchain analytics firm ProbeLab reported that 42% of Ethereum nodes are running on the Lighthouse client, with 36% of nodes based in the U.S. Notably, more Lighthouse nodes are hosted in data centers compared to self-hosted nodes, reflecting institutional user preferences.

Future Considerations

The call concluded with a request from Prysm developer "Potuz" to review proposed changes to the execution payload structure and make timely decisions to allow for necessary updates to the consensus layer specifications.

The Ethereum core developers continue to navigate these complex updates and transitions, with a focus on improving network stability, communication, and protocol standards.