Ethereum Developers Launch Mekong Testnet to Trial Next Year’s Pectra Upgrade

Ethereum developers have introduced a temporary testnet called Mekong for the Pectra upgrade. The testnet is designed to try out specific code changes before deploying them to other public testnets and eventually to the mainnet. According to a blog post by Ethereum core developers, the testnet is designed to explore the impact of these changes. The post states that although the testnet will run for a short time, it is considered to be Pectra feature-complete and contains all proposed EIPs. The developers noted: "We may see some minor spec changes or smaller EIPs, but the features included here will make their way to existing public testnets and eventually to the Ethereum mainnet." Initially, the Pectra upgrade was planned to include 20 Ethereum Improvement Proposals, but this number has been reduced to about 8. These modifications focus on improving the user experience and network efficiency when Pectra is launched on the mainnet. The main changes being tested include improving the user experience of crypto wallets and account abstraction, increasing the maximum validator staking limit from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH, updating deposit and withdrawal mechanisms, etc.