Ethereum evolved: Pectra
What is Pectra
Pectra combines two coordinated updates: the Prague execution layer hard fork and the Electra consensus layer upgrade. Pectra is the first upgrade since Dencun in March 2024 and is set to be Ethereum’s most feature-packed to date, with 11 EIPs scheduled for inclusion. Together, these EIPs will deliver key features that will drive Ethereum forward: a huge update to core UX through the implementation of smart accounts and delegation, an upgrade to staking to make it much easier for institutions and individual investors to secure the network, and dramatically improved integration with L2s that promise to double network efficiency. Altogether, Pectra is a massive and exciting update that will change the face of web3.
Behind the technology and the EIPs, these upgrades will make Ethereum faster, easier to use, and more efficient. The core user surface of the network—the wallet—is getting its most significant improvement in the history of the network with the introduction of smart accounts, which let end user accounts operate like smart contracts: in essence, making each wallet into its own programmable platform that serves the users needs.. Staking is getting a substantial enterprise-grade update, increasing the funding limit by 64x and introducing new features like incremental staking balances. This will make it easier for institutions to establish and manage their validators, while dramatically reducing unnecessary network overhead.. For L2s, the space available for blobs will be doubling, which effectively will double their performance out of the gate, leading to lower costs and faster transaction times.
"Pectra marks a new step for Ethereum and it's a proof that the protocol is evolving!"
Ethereum’s ongoing evolution through hard forks
Over the past two years, Ethereum has undergone three major hard forks: The Merge, Shanghai/Capella, and Dencun. Each of these played a key role in advancing Ethereum’s long-term roadmap. The Merge completed the transition to Proof of Stake, drastically reducing energy consumption. Shanghai/Capella unlocked validator withdrawals, solidifying the staking model. Dencun introduced blob transactions to dramatically reduce rollup costs and kick off Ethereum’s rollup-centric scaling strategy.
Upgrades to the Ethereum network take place through EIPs: these are open source project proposals that the community proposes, works on, and implements. Pectra includes the most EIPs of any upgrade to date, but each support the three core updates to UX, Staking, and L2s.
"Upgrades like Pectra seem technical on the surface, but under the hood, they’re making Ethereum more usable, scalable, and human-friendly"
Roadmap for the future of global financial settlement
These upgrades align with Ethereum’s broader vision, structured around six roadmap phases: The Merge, The Surge, The Scourge, The Verge, The Purge, and The Splurge. These phases focus on sustainability, scalability, censorship resistance, state optimization, and overall refinement. As Ethereum progresses through these stages, each fork serves as a milestone pushing the protocol closer to its goals.
At the heart of this roadmap is a bold but increasingly tangible ambition: to make Ethereum the global finance settlement layer. A platform that can securely and efficiently settle everything from micro-payments and token transfers to multi-chain trades, decentralized lending, and institutional-grade staking, all on-chain, and on a global scale. To get there, Ethereum must continue to improve performance, reduce costs, and support seamless user experiences, without compromising on decentralization.
Now, Ethereum is preparing for its next major upgrade: Pectra, building on the foundation laid by previous forks. Let’s take a closer look at all the EIPs scheduled to be part of the Pectra upgrade.
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The Merge: Completed (Sept 2022)
Transition from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake.
Major energy efficiency gain and foundation for staking. -
The Surge: In progress (Dencun complete, Pectra underway)
Focus: Scalability via rollups and data availability.
Key upgrades: Proto-danksharding (EIP-4844), blob transactions (Dencun), blob capacity increase (Pectra). -
The Scourge
Focus: MEV minimization and censorship resistance.
Work is ongoing on PBS (Proposer-Builder Separation) and inclusion fairness. -
The Verge
Focus: State efficiency via Verkle Trees.
Will reduce storage needs and improve node performance. -
The Purge
Focus: Protocol simplification and technical debt cleanup.
Removal of historical data burden, reducing node requirements. -
The Splurge
Focus: Finishing touches and miscellaneous improvements.
Includes UX fixes, cleanup, and feature polishing.
What’s included in Pectra
EIPs scheduled for inclusion- EIP-7702 Set EOA account code
Enables EOAs to act like smart contract accounts during a transaction, unlocking features like sponsorship and delegation without migrating to SCAs.
Introduces the ability for Externally Owned Accounts to temporarily behave like smart contracts by attaching executable code to a single transaction.
Without this, EOAs remain rigid and cannot access features like transaction batching, gas sponsorship, or smart recovery without migrating to full Smart Contract Accounts. This EIP elegantly solves the problem by allowing EOAs to temporarily adopt custom validation logic just for the transaction in question. It’s highly user-facing and a game-changer for wallet UX, effectively bridging the gap between EOAs and Account Abstraction. - EIP-7251 Increase the MAX_EFFECTIVE_BALANCE
Raises validator staking limit from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH, reducing validator count and improving network efficiency.
Raises the maximum effective balance per validator from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH. The current 32 ETH cap has led to an explosion in the number of validators, which places stress on the network and increases hardware requirements for node operators.
Without this upgrade, Ethereum's validator set would continue to grow uncontrollably. By allowing higher stakes per validator, this EIP reduces validator count and streamlines block production and finality, improving overall network performance. It's not something users will notice immediately, but it’s crucial for keeping Ethereum sustainable at scale. - EIP-7002 Execution layer triggerable exits
Allows validators to exit via the execution layer, enabling smarter, programmable staking workflows.
Allows validators to trigger their own exits from the network through the execution layer rather than being limited to consensus-side mechanisms. Previously, validators needed to rely on the consensus layer alone, making automated or contract-driven exits impossible.
Without this flexibility, advanced use cases like smart contract-based staking managers or automated strategies are difficult to build. This EIP solves that by letting the execution layer initiate validator exits, adding programmability and composability. It’s not a direct end-user feature, but it improves staking flexibility and lays the groundwork for more advanced validator services. - EIP-6110 Supply validator deposits on chain
Moves validator deposits to the execution layer for simpler, more transparent onboarding.
Improves validator onboarding by supplying validator deposits directly on-chain via the execution layer. Before this, deposits had to be relayed through the consensus layer, adding unnecessary complexity and potential delays.
Ethereum without this EIP relies on implicit signaling and messaging between layers, which can be opaque and inefficient. With validator deposits now embedded in the execution layer, the onboarding process becomes more transparent and predictable. This isn’t something the average user sees, but it enhances the robustness of the staking ecosystem and supports cleaner EL–CL (execution layer–consensus layer) separation. - EIP-7691 Blob throughput increase
Increases blob count per block to improve data availability and lower Layer 2 transaction costs.
Increases Ethereum’s target blob count per block from 3 to 6, and raises the maximum from 6 to 9, expanding the available space for Layer 2 rollups to post data. Under the current limits introduced by Dencun (EIP-4844), Ethereum allows up to 6 blobs per block, with a target of 3. Pectra raises this ceiling to 9 blobs and shifts the network’s incentive target to 6, effectively doubling the expected blob throughput.
Without this adjustment, blobspace would become a bottleneck as rollup demand scales. This change is user-facing, helping reduce L2 fees and improve scalability. - EIP-7840 Add blob schedule to EL config files
Standardizes blob scheduling across clients to support future scaling upgrades.
Brings a standardized blob schedule into execution layer config files, helping Ethereum prepare for future upgrades that expand blob functionality. Right now, there’s no consistent way for clients to handle scheduled blob changes.
Without this EIP, coordinating blob capacity upgrades would be messy and error-prone. This proposal adds a shared structure to manage how blobs evolve across forks, making future scaling work smoother. It’s not visible to users, but it’s an important piece of infrastructure for Ethereum’s long-term scaling roadmap. - EIP-7623 Increase calldata cost
Raises calldata fees to incentivize the use of blobs for rollup data, improving scalability.
Increases the cost of calldata (the unstructured data attached to transactions) to encourage rollups to adopt blobs instead.
Without this change, Layer 2 solutions like Optimism and Arbitrum might continue using calldata for posting data, which is more expensive and less efficient than using blobs introduced by EIP-4844. This EIP helps shift usage away from calldata and toward Ethereum’s new blob infrastructure, improving scalability and lowering costs. It’s indirectly user-facing—users will benefit from cheaper Layer 2 fees—but the mechanics are mostly invisible to them. - EIP-7685 General-purpose execution layer requests
Creates a standardized format for execution-to-consensus layer communication, improving future upgrade compatibility.
Lays the foundation for better execution layer–consensus layer communication by defining a general-purpose request format.
Today, communication from the execution layer to the consensus layer is limited and non-standardized. Without this proposal, future upgrades that depend on more robust inter-layer data sharing would be harder to implement. EIP-7685 doesn’t change much for users directly, but it’s a critical enabler for upgrades like Verkle trees and further EL–CL integration down the line. - EIP-7549 Move the committee index outside Attestation
Optimizes consensus data structures for reduced bandwidth and better performance.
Improves efficiency in consensus by moving the committee index out of the attestation structure. Right now, attestations carry extra data that could be separated, making them larger than necessary and harder to optimize.
Ethereum without this change continues to carry redundant information in its consensus messages, which adds to bandwidth and storage requirements. This EIP refactors that structure for leaner attestations. While it’s deep in the protocol internals and doesn’t affect end users directly, it contributes to performance and future-proofing of the consensus layer. - EIP-2935 Save historical block hashes in state
Extends access to older block hashes, enabling more advanced on-chain apps and trustless randomness.
Addresses the need for smart contracts to access older block hashes by saving recent historical block hashes directly in the blockchain’s state.
Ethereum without this EIP limits smart contracts to only the latest 256 block hashes, making it harder to build applications that rely on older but still recent on-chain data. By storing these hashes for longer, it opens up use cases in randomness, proof systems, and trustless oracles. This change isn't visible to most users, but developers building advanced on-chain logic will benefit significantly. - EIP-2537 Precompile for BLS12-381 curve operations
Adds a gas-efficient precompile for BLS signature verification, supporting staking and cross-chain use cases.
Introduces a precompile for BLS12-381 curve operations, solves the challenge of verifying BLS (Boneh–Lynn–Shacham) signatures efficiently on-chain. Without this, cryptographic operations—especially those used in staking and cross-chain bridges—remain too gas-intensive and impractical for widespread use.
This EIP adds a native precompile that dramatically reduces gas costs for these verifications. While it's not something end users will directly interact with, it strengthens Ethereum’s cryptographic backbone and supports future interoperability and scalability features.
The most significant changes in Pectra: A closer look
"EIP-7702 brings Wallet UX to the next level. It is a big step in making blockchains available to the masses."
Advancing Web3 UX with EIP-7702: Set EOA account code
EIP-7702 allows EOAs to temporarily behave like Smart Contract Accounts by including a contract_code field in transactions, letting users access features like batching, gas sponsorship, and smart validation logic without deploying a separate contract. Unlike EIP-4337, which relies on external infrastructure like bundlers and paymasters, EIP-7702 is integrated directly into Ethereum’s core protocol, making adoption easier, improving compatibility, and bringing smart account capabilities closer to everyday users.
For MetaMask users, this means existing accounts can now access smart account features, including the ability to delegate wallet permissions using MetaMask’s Delegation Toolkit, which until now was only available to smart contract accounts.
"Now, your validator can have a max effective balance of up to 2048 ETH, and a user can use EIP-7002 messages to withdraw part of their effective balance if they want to."
Unlocking staking for institutions with EIP-7251 & EIP-7002: Max Effective Balance Increase and Execution-Layer Validator Exits
EIP-7251 and EIP-7002 introduce key improvements to Ethereum’s staking architecture, making it more scalable, flexible, and developer-friendly.
EIP-7251 raises the maximum effective balance per validator from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH, allowing large stakers to consolidate and reducing the overall validator count. This lightens the consensus load and supports future performance upgrades without penalizing smaller participants.
EIP-7002 allows validator exits to be triggered through the execution layer, enabling smart contracts and applications to manage validator lifecycle on-chain, a major step toward programmable and automated staking flows.
"EIP-7691 and EIP-7623 will help improve throughput and mitigate worst-case scenarios by optimizing how blocks are propagated and processed."
Unleashing L2 performance with EIP-7691 + EIP-7623: Scaling Rollup Efficiency by Shifting from Calldata to Blobs
EIP-7691 and EIP-7623 work together to shift Ethereum rollups away from calldata and toward blobs, improving scalability and reducing pressure on the execution layer.
Blobs were first introduced in EIP-4844 as part of the Dencun upgrade in March 2024, offering rollups a cheaper, temporary data storage option compared to calldata. However, many rollups have continued relying on calldata due to tooling familiarity and blobspace limits. To address this, EIP-7623 raises the gas cost of calldata from 16 to 42 gas per byte, discouraging its use. But to make the switch viable, EIP-7691 increases Ethereum’s blob capacity, raising the target per block from 3 to 6 and the maximum from 6 to 9.
This coordinated change makes blobspace more accessible while making calldata less attractive, helping networks like Linea scale more efficiently with cheaper fees and faster finality. Developers can now rely on blob availability when designing applications, improving predictability and performance for users. This is part of a planned evolution: With the upcoming Fusaka update, the block target will be 36 with the maximum of 52, representing an over 10x improvement in efficiency, throughput, and cost.Fusaka, the next upgrade after Pectra, is expected to further expand blob capacity up to 32 target and 56 maximum.
The road ahead
Linea is preparing early support for EIP-7691, giving its developers access to increased blob capacity and lower rollup fees even ahead of mainnet. Beyond technical readiness, Linea is emerging as the most Ethereum-aligned L2 in the ecosystem and is on track to become the official Layer 2 for Ethereum, which means it could be the first to adopt future protocol upgrades before they’re live on mainnet. For developers, that means early access to powerful features and the ability to ship those benefits to users faster than ever.
Looking ahead, Ethereum’s next major upgrade, Fusaka, is expected to introduce full danksharding via PeerDAS which will significantly improve speed and scale. Together with the groundwork laid by Pectra, these changes are part of the stepwise evolution of the Ethereum network, bringing it closer to realizing its ambition to be a truly scalable, efficient global settlement layer.
"The future looks great with changes like PeerDAS coming in the following months. We should see Ethereum’s rollup capabilities scale significantly, further solidifying Ethereum’s role in the blockchain ecosystem."
