Pectra Upgrade: Is the Ethereum Ecosystem Being Reshaped?

The Ethereum Pectra upgrade officially went live on March 5th. This upgrade integrates the Prague and Electra updates, aiming to optimize Ethereum's execution layer and consensus layer. The Pectra fork is seen as a significant upgrade to the Ethereum network, with the goal of enhancing the ETH staking experience, improving layer two scalability, and expanding network capacity.

The upgrade plan will be deployed to the mainnet on April 8, 2024, provided that both the Holesky and Sepolia testnets successfully complete the upgrade. The Pectra upgrade follows the Dencun upgrade in March 2024 and will be implemented in two phases:

The first phase is expected to launch in mid-March 2025, mainly including:

• Increase the Blob capacity of each block from 3 to 6 to reduce network congestion and lower fees.
• Introduce account abstraction, allowing the use of stablecoins to pay Gas fees.
• Increase the validator staking limit from 32 Ether to 2,048 Ether

The second phase is expected to commence at the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026, and will achieve:

• Verkle tree structure, improving data storage and synchronization efficiency
• Peer Data Availability Sampling (, improve network scalability.

![From "King of Shanzhai" to "Institutional Paradise"? Can Pectra's upgrade reshape the Ethereum ecosystem])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-92feda688d852829afbf8805662df019.webp(

The Pectra upgrade includes 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals )EIP(, covering various aspects such as network scalability, security, account abstraction, and validator staking mechanisms. Some of the key proposals include:

1. EIP-7702: Allows external accounts to execute certain smart contract functions, enhancing wallet flexibility.

2. EIP-7251: Increase the maximum staking balance for validators to 2048 Ether, simplifying node management.

3. EIP-7002: Optimize the withdrawal process to reduce trust assumptions between the consensus layer and the execution layer.

4. EIP-6110: Significantly shorten the validator activation delay time and improve participation efficiency.

5. EIP-7691: Increase block data capacity by 50%, enhance transaction processing capability.

6. EIP-7516: Improve MEV transparency to help monitor related activities.

7. EIP-7549: Optimize the Gas fee structure to make transaction fees more stable and reasonable.

![From "King of Shanzhai" to "Institutional Paradise"? Can the Pectra upgrade reshape the Ethereum ecosystem])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-af7c3e7f40b5fd8dd5a287b60691c9d5.webp(

Pectra adopts a merged upgrade approach with execution layer )Prague( and consensus layer )Electra( to address the synchronization issues that may arise from separate upgrades. This dual-layer upgrade model aims to comprehensively enhance Ethereum network performance.

![From "King of Shanzhai" to "Institutional Paradise"? Can the Pectra upgrade reshape the Ethereum ecosystem])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-bd205c64c507fae6694220eac9188938.webp(

The Pectra upgrade may have far-reaching effects on the Ethereum ecosystem and the cryptocurrency market:

• For DApp developers, the enhancement of smart contract functions and Gas optimization will simplify the development process and expand application scope.

• For the long-term value of Ethereum, improvements in the staking mechanism and enhancements in L2 scalability may strengthen its competitiveness. However, the "parasitic" effect of L2 chains on the mainnet remains a problem that needs to be addressed.

• In terms of decentralization, raising the staking limit may deepen the trend of centralization, making Ethereum more suitable for large investors and institutional participation.

• The future development direction of Ethereum, finding a balance between a single high-throughput network and multi-chain aggregation, remains a problem to be solved.

![From "King of Shanzhai" to "Institutional Paradise"? Can Pectra's upgrade reshape the Ethereum ecosystem])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-194ca7dee5770b327d058596e7c14ad6.webp(

Overall, the upgrade of Pectra to Ethereum has brought many improvements, but it has also sparked discussions about the direction of network development and the degree of decentralization. Ethereum faces the challenge of how to balance innovation, security, and decentralization, and its future development path is worth ongoing attention.

![From "King of Shanzhai" to "Institutional Paradise"? Can the Pectra upgrade reshape the Ethereum ecological landscape])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-0bbf0030881c2ef88d34b9c5b7ef3fbb.webp(