Upgrade Pectra of Ethereum Scheduled for Q1/2025

Pectra, the next crucial upgrade of the Ethereum network, is scheduled to roll out in early 2025.

Upgrade Pectra of Ethereum Scheduled for Q1/2025

During the regular meeting on May 23, Ethereum developers shared several new updates regarding the preparation for the network's next major upgrade, codenamed Pectra.

Certainly, the most discussed topic was the timing of this upgrade. After weighing three options: 1) deploying Pectra before the Devcon conference in November 2024; 2) deploying Pectra after the Devcon conference in November 2024; and 3) deploying Pectra in Q1/2025, Ethereum developers opted for option 3 due to the following reasons:

• Providing additional time for developers and Ethereum infrastructure entities to test and review for potential bugs.
• Avoiding rushing the schedule simply to announce Pectra at Devcon, a time when the global Ethereum community gathers, which could pose challenges in responding promptly to any issues.

The Ethereum programming team also discussed potential upgrades within Pectra:

• On the consensus layer: Enhancing Ethereum's Data Availability with support for PeerDAS (data availability sampling) - a mechanism designed to further scale layer-2 solutions post EIP-4844 from the Dencun upgrade, allowing light nodes to verify blockchain data availability by downloading only a portion of the information.
• On the execution layer: Replacing EIP-3074 with Vitalik Buterin's proposed EIP-7702, improving Ethereum's account abstraction and mitigating risks associated with EIP-3074, as well as addressing vulnerabilities from EIP-2935.

Additionally, the Ethereum team mentioned that support for Verkle Tree - a data structure change aimed at further scaling the ETH network - will likely feature in the subsequent upgrade post Pectra, codenamed Osaka, slated for Q1/2026.