Ethereum Developers Consider Splitting Pectra Upgrade

According to Cointelegraph, Ethereum developers are contemplating dividing the anticipated Pectra upgrade into two phases, with the first phase potentially launching by early 2025. During Ethereum’s execution layer meeting on September 12, a developer mentioned the goal of shipping Pectra one as quickly as possible, targeting early next year. Another developer suggested that February feels realistic for a split Pectra, while developer Danno Ferrin noted that splitting the fork only makes sense if it is delivered in the first quarter of the year. Ethereum core developers meet weekly to discuss technical issues and upcoming upgrades. EF Researcher Ansgar Dietrichs expressed concerns that a split would be a setback if not delivered promptly, stating that a delay until June would be considered a failure. It was suggested that splitting the upgrade into two parts might be safer, as smaller forks usually carry less risk. The Pectra upgrade combines two separate upgrades: the Prague upgrade, which focuses on changes to the network’s execution layer, and the Electra upgrade, which impacts the consensus layer. Galaxy crypto researcher Christine Kim believes the chances of a split are high due to the complexity of the current Pectra fork and the desire to add more to the upgrade. The scope of the Pectra upgrade could change significantly if developers decide to split it across two hard forks. The final decision will be made at the next Ethereum All Core Developers (ACD) call on September 19. Industry experts show optimism for the Pectra upgrade. Kim previously stated that the Pectra upgrade is shaping up to be a significant update, possibly the largest in Ethereum’s history. Ethereum educator Sassal echoed this sentiment, describing Pectra as the biggest upgrade in Ethereum’s history to his 254,500 followers on X. In April 2024, Cointelegraph reported that Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 3074 was approved for inclusion in the next update. This proposal allows normal crypto wallets to function like smart contracts, enabling features such as transaction bundling and sponsored transactions. These functions allow users to sign once for multiple transactions and delegate funds for use by another wallet, similar to account abstraction introduced in ERC-4337.