Ethereum's next update could be the "biggest" ever

Christine Kim, a researcher at Galaxy Digital, described the upcoming Ethereum upgrade, Prague-Electra, also known as Pectra, as potentially the most significant in Ethereum history.

В publication on X (Twitter), Kim outlined the various changes to the code and highlighted how Pectra could fundamentally change Ethereum's operational and security paradigms.

After the successful Dencun upgrade in March 2023, the Pectra represents the next big advance for Ethereum the network. This upgrade includes a collection of ETH Improvement Proposals (EIPs) designed to increase network functionality, cryptographic security and efficiency. Here's a closer look at some of the key changes introduced by Pectra:

Prague upgrades

• EIP-2537: This proposal aims to add operations for the BLS12-381 curve as a precompile, which is critical for checking BLS signatures. This increases security with reliable cryptographic evidence and improves interoperability with the Beacon chain.
• EIP-2935: Proposed by Vitalik Buterin and others, this EIP suggests storing the last 8,192 hash blocks in system contract storage slots. This is a fundamental step towards the Verkle upgrade that will reduce state size and improve scalability.
• EOF (Ethereum Object Format): A collection of 10 EIPs that re-engineer the way EVM bytecode is processed, with the aim of improving the work of application developers by making smart contract execution more efficient, logical, consistent and upgradable .
• EIP-7702: Proposed by Buterin, Sam Wilson, Ansgar Dietrichs, and Matt Garnett, this EIP introduces a new transaction type, allowing an Externally Owned Account (EOA) code to be set during transactions, improving the user experience by grouping transactions and more flexible control over EOA.

Electra upgrades

• EIP-6110: Offer to provide deposits to validators as a list of deposit operations added to the execution layer block, which simplifies the validator's work by removing deposit voting, reducing client software complexity, and reducing processing latency.
• EIP-7002: This EIP, authored by Danny Ryan and others, allows validators to trigger exits and partial withdrawals using their execution layer withdrawal credentials, improving the design of staking pools.
• EIP-7251 and EIP-7549: These focus on optimizing validator balance configurations and improving the efficiency of attestations within blocks, reducing network bandwidth requirements and increasing overall security.
• Kim also pointed out that alongside the confirmed EIPs for Pectra, developers are working on parallel initiatives such as PeerDAS, expiration history and others. Depending on the progress of these initiatives, additional EIPs may be included in Pectra.

Multiple EIPs are currently being tested on development networks (devnets), marking a strategic shift in Ethereum's governance process. This approach allows the results of real-world testing to shape the scope of the upgrade, ensuring reliability and stability before full deployment.

The active participation of the Ethereum developer community is critical, with ongoing discussions, testing and feedback influencing the final configuration of the Pectra upgrade. The next stages include further devnet deployments and community reviews, with the possibility of deferring some EIPs for subsequent upgrades based on the assessment of their readiness and impact.

Kim concluded that it's still uncertain how extensive Pectra will be, as developers aren't sure which EIPs will be enabled together and which will be separated. The core development team aims to deploy the Pectra upgrade by the first quarter of 2025.