8 min read

Pectra, the next major Ethereum upgrade, brings significant enhancements to both the execution and consensus layers. This dual-layer hard fork—Prague (execution layer) and Electra (consensus layer)—introduces improvements focused on scalability, security, staking operations, and developer tooling.

Pectra upgrade is currently being tested on Ethereum testnets. It went live on Holesky in February 2025 and is set to launch on Sepolia in March. If all goes well, the upgrade is expected to be scheduled for the Ethereum mainnet in April 2025.

In this guide, we’ll break down what Pectra means for Ethereum users, developers, and validators, and how to prepare for its changes.

Background

Before diving into the technical details, it's important to understand the motivation behind Pectra. This upgrade builds upon the Dencun hard fork, which introduced blob transactions (EIP-4844) and laid the foundation for more scalable rollups. Pectra expands on this by further optimizing staking operations, inter-layer communication, and data availability mechanisms.

However, scalability is only one part of Ethereum’s evolution. Another major goal is improving how users interact with Ethereum through account abstraction, making wallets more flexible and reducing transaction complexity. A key milestone in this effort was EIP-4337, which introduced account abstraction via smart contract wallets without requiring protocol changes. Pectra continues this progression with EIP-7702, which enables Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to temporarily execute smart contract code, further bridging the gap between traditional wallets and smart accounts.

Overview

Pectra brings a comprehensive set of improvements, including:

• Enhanced Validator Flexibility: Validators can now stake any amount between 32 and 2048 ETH. This not only changes reward dynamics but also simplifies validator management.
• Streamlined Staking Operations: New mechanisms allow stake owners to trigger exits and deposits directly from the execution layer, reducing delays and complexity.
• Programmable EOAs - Smart Accounts: EIP-7702 brings a new level of functionality to EOAs (Externally Owned Accounts, like standard Ethereum wallets) by temporarily enabling them to execute smart contract logic during a transaction. This opens up use cases such as transaction batching, gas sponsorship, and delegation to alternative key schemes.
• Advanced Developer Tools: With the introduction of efficient cryptographic precompiles (e.g., for the BLS12-381 curve) and extended blob capabilities, developers have new avenues to build cost-effective and innovative dApps.
• Improved Inter-Layer Communication: A unified framework for moving requests (like deposits, withdrawals, and consolidations) between Eth1 and the beacon chain makes the network more efficient.

Pectra at a Glance: EIPs by Functionality

To help you see the bigger picture, we’ve grouped the Pectra EIPs into thematic sections based on their primary focus.

1. Validator and Staking Enhancements

These changes address core challenges in managing staking operations and validator interactions.

EIP-7251: Increase the Maximum Effective Balance

• The Issue: Validators were limited to a fixed 32 ETH stake, which constrained flexibility.
• How EIP-7251 Works: EIP-7251 raises the validator effective balance cap from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH, allowing validators to stake any amount within this range and reducing the need for multiple validator instances.
• The Benefit: Smaller stakers gain incremental rewards for extra ETH, and large operators can consolidate stakes to simplify management. Fewer validators mean fewer signatures to process in each epoch, reducing the load on Ethereum’s consensus system and improving overall network efficiency.

EIP-7002: Execution Layer Triggerable Exits

• The Issue: To stop staking and withdraw ETH, validators use their active validator key (a BLS key) to send a message to the Beacon Chain; the withdrawal key only receives the funds but can’t start the exit. Thus, this setup is tricky if the validator and withdrawal keys are held by different people or if the validator key is lost.
• How EIP-7002 Works: This proposal adds a new contract on Ethereum’s execution layer that allows stakers to trigger exits with their withdrawal keys. With this proposal, stakers can call a function in the contract to exit without needing the validator key or even Beacon Chain access.
• The Benefit: Enhances security and streamlines exit procedures, reducing the dependency on active validator infrastructure.

EIP-6110: Supply Validator Deposits On-Chain

• The Issue: Currently, validator deposits rely on a voting mechanism within the Consensus Layer, where beacon chain proposers validate and include deposits based on polling execution layer data. This introduces delays (up to ~12 hours) and adds complexity due to inconsistencies in JSON-RPC API implementations and reliance on external data polling.
• How EIP-6110 Works: This proposal moves deposit processing fully into the Execution Layer by appending validator deposits directly to the execution block structure.
• The Benefit: Faster validator activation, reducing the deposit processing delay from ~12 hours to ~13 minutes, and reduced complexity in client software by eliminating the need for proposer voting.

EIP-7685: General Purpose Execution Layer Requests

• The Issue: Ethereum lacks a standardized mechanism for handling inter-layer operations between the Execution Layer (Eth1) and the Consensus Layer (Beacon Chain). Currently, deposits, withdrawals, and validator consolidations each follow different processes, leading to inefficiencies.
• How EIP-7685 Works: This EIP introduces a general purpose framework that enables direct communication between the execution and consensus layers, streamlining how requests—such as deposits, withdrawals, and validator consolidations—are processed.
• The Benefit: This proposal removes inefficiencies in staking operations by ensuring consistent inter-layer request handling. It also enables smart contracts to interact with the consensus layer directly.

2. Data Efficiency & Blob Adoption

These EIPs work in tandem to optimize how data is stored and processed on-chain, encouraging the use of blobs over calldata.

EIP-7623: Increase Calldata Cost

• The Issue: Before the Dencun upgrade introduced blobs, Layer 2s (L2s) used calldata in the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to store data permanently, though it’s less efficient. Even now, calldata can sometimes be cheaper than blobs, despite blobs being the preferred method for data storage.
• How EIP-7623 Works: Increase the cost of using calldata to encourage L2s to switch fully to blobs.
• The Benefit: More efficient data storage and lower overall transaction fees.

EIP-7691: Blob Throughput Increase

• The Issue: Conservative blob limits may soon obstruct scalability, especially as rollup adoption grows.
• How EIP-7691 Works: This EIP doubles the blob throughput by increasing the target number of blobs per block from 3 to 6 and the maximum from 6 to 9, allowing more rollup data to be efficiently stored and processed.
• The Benefit: Better scalability and reduced fees.

EIP-7840: Add Blob Schedule to Execution Layer Config Files

• The Issue: Adjusting blob parameters dynamically has been challenging.
• How EIP-7840 Works: Introduce configurable parameters for blob targets and maximum counts within client configuration files.
• The Benefit: Simplifies network tuning and creates a more predictable fee market for blob transactions.

Ethereum clients will need to configure blob scheduling parameters for different forks. Below is an example of how the Prague and Cancun forks define blob-related parameters, including target blobs per block and the base fee update fraction.

Example Blob Schedule Configuration

// Clients must configure the target, max and baseFeeUpdateFraction per-fork
"blobSchedule": {
  "cancun": {
    "target": 3,
    "max": 6,
    "baseFeeUpdateFraction": 3338477
  },
  "prague": {
    "target": 6,
    "max": 9,
    "baseFeeUpdateFraction": 5007716
  }
}

3. Advanced Cryptographic Operations

Enhancing cryptographic functions is key to efficient and cost-effective verification processes.

EIP-2537: Precompile for BLS12-381 Curve Operations

• The Issue: Verifying BLS signatures and zkSNARK proofs in smart contracts is computationally expensive.
• How EIP-2537 Works: Introduce a native precompile for operations on the BLS12-381 curve.
• The Benefit: Significantly reduces gas costs, making multi-signature verification and proof checks more efficient.

4. Extended Historical Data

Providing broader access to historical data benefits stateless clients and cross-chain applications.

EIP-2935: Save Historical Block Hashes in State

• The Issue: The BLOCKHASH opcode is currently limited to retrieving only the last 256 block hashes (~51 minutes), restricting access to historical data for smart contracts and rollups.
• How EIP-2935 Works: Store up to 8192 block hashes (~27.3 hours) in the storage of a system contract, while maintaining the existing BLOCKHASH opcode behavior.
• The Benefit: Rollups and cross-chain applications can now directly query historical block hashes without relying on off-chain sources or external data aggregation.

5. Smart Accounts & Account Abstraction

EIP-7702 is a step toward account abstraction by allowing EOAs to temporarily execute smart contract logic. This improves wallet functionality by enabling gas sponsorship, transaction batching, and alternative authentication schemes. Over time, this could reduce the gap between EOAs and smart contract wallets, making Ethereum transactions more seamless for users.

EIP-7702: Set EOA Account Code

• The Issue: Traditional EOAs are limited to simple transaction signing and cannot execute code.
• How EIP-7702 Works: Introduce a new transaction type that temporarily assigns smart contract code to an EOA during a transaction.
• The Benefit: Enables advanced functionalities such as transaction batching, gas sponsorship, and delegation to alternative key schemes—paving the way for account abstraction.

Technical Guide on EIP-7702

For a deeper dive into how EIP-7702 works and its implications for wallet development, check out EIP-7702 Implementation Guide: Build and Test Smart Accounts technical guide and EIP-7702 Explained: The Future of Ethereum blog post.

How Pectra Affects Users, Developers, and Validators

For Users

• Smarter Wallets: With smart accounts via EIP-7702, your wallet can eventually support features like transaction batching and gas sponsorship. (These benefits will materialize as wallet providers integrate EIP-7702.)
• Lower Fees for Rollups: With EIP-7691 increasing blob capacity, rollups will have more space to store data efficiently at a lower cost. This means cheaper transactions for users relying on L2 solutions like Optimistic and ZK-rollups.
• No Action Required: Your ETH remains unchanged through the upgrade. There’s nothing you need to “upgrade” manually—simply enjoy the improved experience once the new features roll out.

For Developers

• Innovative Tools: New precompiles (EIP-2537) drastically reduce gas costs for verifying cryptographic proofs, while a unified framework simplifies the handling of inter-layer operations.
• Optimized Data Storage: With increased blob throughput (EIP-7691) and higher calldata costs (EIP-7623), you’re encouraged to adopt blob storage for rollup data, improving scalability and reducing costs.
• Expanded Functionality: Programmable EOAs (EIP-7702) enable EOAs to behave like smart contract accounts, opening the door to batch transactions and alternative key schemes. For a deeper dive into these capabilities, check out EIP-7702 Implementation Guide: Build and Test Smart Accounts technical guide.

For Validators

• Flexible Staking: Increasing the maximum effective balance to 2048 ETH (EIP-7251) allows you to scale operations more efficiently, whether you’re a solo staker or part of a larger provider.
• Simplified Operations: New mechanisms for on-chain deposits and exits (EIPs 7002, 6110, and 7685) reduce administrative overhead and ease key management challenges.

Conclusion

Pectra is another key step toward full Danksharding, bringing improvements in usability, security, and scalability across the board. Whether you’re a user enjoying a smoother wallet experience, a developer building the next generation of dApps, or a validator seeking operational efficiencies, Pectra delivers significant improvements.

At QuickNode, we’re excited to support these advancements and help you navigate Ethereum’s evolving landscape. Subscribe to our newsletter for more articles and guides on Web3 and blockchain.

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