ChainCatcher reported that according to Decrypt, this week, Ethereum's core developers decided to split the network's next major upgrade, Pectra, into at least two parts, with the first update to be released around February 2025.
Currently, gas fees on Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, and other second-layer networks must be paid in ETH, regardless of the token being transferred. A proposal included in the first part of Pectra, EIP-7702, would effectively end this requirement, allowing users to pay gas fees with other, more widely used cryptocurrencies.
Another improvement is EIP-7251, which will allow Ethereum stakers to receive rewards for more than 32 ETH staked. For example, a user who currently stakes 40 ETH cannot currently receive benefits or gain voting rights from the additional 8 ETH. This will significantly reduce the bandwidth requirements of the entire Ethereum network.
Two other proposals included in the initial version of Pectra, EIP-6110 and EIP-7002, will also enable fully automated and permissionless ETH stake pools for the first time. The rest of Pectra may have to wait until 2026.
