Ethereum Preps for Biggest Code Change Since the Merge With Pectra Upgrade | Breaking Crypto News & Blockchain Updates

Ethereum Preps for Biggest Code Change Since the Merge With Pectra Upgrade — Ethereum developers are preparing for Wednesday'smuch anticipated Pectra upgrade, set to bring the biggest code change to the blockchainsince the Merg...

Ethereum developers are preparing for Wednesday'smuch anticipated Pectra upgrade, set to bring the biggest code change to the blockchainsince the Mergein 2022.

Pectra – a blend of the names Prague + Electra – consists of two upgrades happening on Ethereum’s consensus and execution layers at the same time.

The upgrade is focused on making the Ethereum blockchain more user-friendly and efficient. Pectra consists of11 major code changes, or "Ethereum improvement proposals" (EIPs), that will improve the staking experience on the network, introduce new wallet features, and update the functionality of the blockchain.

One of the main changes coming to the blockchain is EIP-7702, whichgives wallets smart contract capabilities, moving them towards a technological trend known as “account abstraction.” The change will allow wallets to add user-friendly features, like the ability to pay gas fees with currencies other than ether (ETH.)

Another major change, known as EIP-7251, willmake the staking experiencefor validators easier. After Pectra, validators will be able to increase the maximum amount of ETH they can stake from 32 to 2,048, meaning those who stake across multiple validators can now consolidate them under one node. This should mean that it will take less time to spin up a new node and alleviate the cumbersome experience of setting up the equipment.

Some of the changes in Pectra have been planned for a few years, even though developersoriginally targetedthis all to go live in 2024. However, due to the complexities of the code changes, Pectra was delayed until the first quarter of 2025. After the initial delay, developerstested the upgradetwice on two different testnets and both networks experienced bugs, requiringthe developers to createa third test, delaying the upgrade once again.

“The Pectra fork is coming to Ethereum mainnet soon! Please don't forget to update your nodes,” wrote Ethereum Foundation devops engineer Parithosh Jayanthion X.

The price of ETH has fallen nearly 42% in the last 12 months, while the broader market gauge, CoinDesk 20 Index, dipped about 1.5%.

Read more:Ethereum Developers Lock in May 7 for Pectra Upgrade

Margaux Nijkerk reports on the Ethereum protocol and L2s. A graduate of Johns Hopkins and Emory universities, she has a masters in International Affairs & Economics. She holds BTC and ETH above CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

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