TechFlow reports that on September 21, according to Decrypt, the Ethereum core development team announced a phased rollout of the next major network upgrade, Pectra. The first phase is expected to launch around February 2025 and will focus on key updates including reforming gas fee payment mechanisms and optimizing the validator staking system. The EIP-7702 proposal will introduce "account abstraction," allowing users to pay gas fees using various cryptocurrencies such as USDC, eliminating the need to hold ETH for transactions on the Ethereum network. Ethereum core developer Marius van der Wijden stated this would significantly improve user experience.
Another significant update, EIP-7251, will allow stakers to earn rewards on amounts exceeding 32 ETH and support merging validator nodes, substantially improving network efficiency. Additionally, EIP-6110 and EIP-7002 will lay the foundation for fully automated and permissionless ETH staking pools. Subsequent phases of Pectra are expected to roll out in 2026 and may include important features such as the EVM Object Format (EOF) and PeerDAS, potentially further reducing Layer 2 network gas fees. These upgrades will have a profound impact on the Ethereum ecosystem, enhancing network performance and user-friendliness.
Previous report, Ethereum developers reached consensus during Thursday's meeting to split the upcoming hard fork upgrade Pectra into two phases.
