Ethereum developers consider Pectra update, eye February target split

Ethereum developers are planning to split the much-anticipated Pectra update, which will increase the network's efficiency and scalability, into two parts. The first phase could start as early as 2025.

On September 12, during the meeting of the Ethereum implementation layer, “there is a broad consensus, if we split, the idea should be to get Pectra as soon as possible, at the beginning of next year,” he said. .

Developers are looking at the February deadline

Another developer said: “Febr feels real with a cracked Pectra.

“Splitting the fork only makes sense if we're talking Q1 delivery,” added developer Danno Ferrin.

EF researcher Ansgar Dietrichs said he was aware of it and said it would be a setback if it didn't arrive as soon as possible. During the meeting, “I think that the division in which we will send only the first half of June will be rejected,” he said.

It has been suggested that splitting the update in two may be a safer option, as smaller forks are usually less risky.

The Ethereum Pectra update combines two different updates: the Prague update and the Electra update. While the Prague update focuses on changes to the execution layer of the network, the Electra update affects the communication layer.

Kristen Kim, a researcher at Galaxy Crypto, believes that “due to the complexity of the current Pectra fork and the need for further improvement, the possibility of a split is high.”

“If the devs decide to split into two hard forks, the scope of the Pectra update can change significantly,” Kim added.

The developers will decide on this at the next Ethereum All Core Developers (ACD) call on September 19.

The industry is optimistic about the improvement of Pectra

Kim previously said that Pectra's update on June 7 “is shaping up to be a major update, perhaps the biggest in Ethereum history.”

Ethereum instructor Sasal made a similar comment. “Pectra, the next evolution of the Ethereum network, is shaping up to be the biggest in Ethereum history,” to his 254,500 X followers.

Related: Ethereum Research Group Numbers Up 2,100% Since 2019

In April 2024, Cointelegraph reported that Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 3074 was approved for inclusion in the next update. This proposal allows regular crypto wallets to function as smart contracts.

One of the functions of EIP-3074 is to provide standard External Owned Accounts (EOAs), ordinary wallets such as MetaMask wallets, and smart contract capabilities.

This allows functions such as transaction wrapping, so users only need to sign in once, and sponsored transactions where wallet funds can be repurposed, similar to account abstraction introduced in ERC-4337.

Magazine: Proposed Change Could Save Ethereum From L2's ‘Roadmap to Hell'