Editor's Note: This article introduces the Pectra upgrade, which is a major improvement to Ethereum, divided into three main areas: improving Ethereum accounts, enhancing the validator experience, and expanding data blocks. The article details several EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals), including EIP-7702, EIP-7251, and others, which enhance account functionality, reduce the complexity of validator operations, and improve network efficiency. It also discusses how to expand the network by increasing data block capacity and gradually achieve the goal of stateless clients, advancing the security and scalability of the Ethereum network.

The original content is as follows (edited for readability):

Ethereum is improving account functionality, simplifying network validation, and enhancing the efficiency of data blocks. This article will introduce Pectra, an eagerly anticipated upgrade that brings many new EIPs, with the first phase already launched.

Launched on Holesky on February 24

Launched on Sepolia on March 5

Once the implementation is successful, the mainnet update date will be determined. We can expect the mainnet update to occur 3 to 9 months after the testnet implementation. Pectra is a quite significant upgrade, bringing improvements across multiple EIPs:

We can categorize these improvements into three key areas:

· Improving Ethereum accounts

· Improving the user experience for Ethereum validators

· Expanding the capacity of data blocks

Let's dive into some of the upcoming EIPs and how they will enhance the Ethereum protocol and the user experience.

Improving Ethereum Accounts: EIP-7702

EIP-7702 will advance the Ethereum protocol layer to account abstraction. It extends the functionality of Ethereum's Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to include smart contract capabilities, such as:

· Batch transaction processing: Executing multiple operations in a single transaction

· Gas sponsorship: Allowing accounts without ETH to have their transaction fees paid by others

· More identity verification and recovery mechanisms

Improving the User Experience for Ethereum Validators: EIP-7251/7002/6110

· EIP-7251: Increases the maximum balance for validators to 2048 ETH and allows them to automatically compound their rewards on larger active stakes. Previously, rewards were only considered for a 32 ETH balance. Additionally, larger validators can now merge multiple 32 ETH validators into one.

· EIP-7002: Reduces trust assumptions by allowing execution layer addresses to trigger withdrawals (as long as they are set as "withdrawable credentials"). Previously, only validators could trigger exits.

· EIP-6110: Removes the 2048-block delay for validator deposits and their addition to the queue. This time is expected to be reduced from 9 hours to 13 minutes.

Expanding Data Blocks: EIP-7691

As the cost of data blocks has increased, the need to expand their capacity has also emerged.

Through EIP-7691, the capacity of data blocks will increase by 50%: Currently, each Ethereum block can accommodate approximately 3 data blocks (up to 6 during peak demand). After implementing EIP-7691, the average will be 6 data blocks, with a peak of 9.

The next step in further expanding data blocks is to reduce the need to store all data blocks and move towards subnets, which can still be used to verify the data block data.

Other EIPs included in Pectra:

· EIP-2537: Increases the security bits of operations to over 120 bits, up from the current 80 bits.

· EIP-2935: Prepares for stateless clients by proposing to store historical block hashes in the state as part of the block processing logic. Implemented through contract storage, the EIP allows for a smooth transition without impacting block hash logic. Rollups will be able to benefit from longer histories and directly query the storage contract.

· EIP-7549: This AIP focuses on improving the efficiency of Casper clients. It achieves this by reducing the number of pairings required for consensus validation, specifically by removing one of the three elements in the Casper client authentication message: the committee index. By removing this from the authentication message, the votes for reaching consensus can now be more efficiently aggregated into blocks, increasing the number of votes per block from 2 slots to 8.

· EIP-7623: EIP-7623 proposes to increase the calldata cost, which is one of the more impactful developments for L2. The proposal aims to adjust the call data cost to address the difference between the average (100KB) and maximum block size (7.15 MB). This will not affect regular users, but only transactions primarily used for publishing data.

This increase will be introduced through a base fee that depends on the gas ratio consumed in the call data operation: either reducing the block size to accommodate more data blocks or increasing the gas limit.

· EIP-7685: Introduces a framework to store requests triggered by smart contracts. This allows validators controlled by smart contracts to delegate management operations to the latter, reducing the need for intermediaries.

· EIP-2935: Prepares for stateless clients by proposing to store historical block hashes in the state as part of the block processing logic. Implemented through contract storage, the EIP allows for a smooth transition without impacting block hash logic. Rollups will be able to benefit from longer histories and directly query the storage contract.

This upgrade is a significant signal for Ethereum; we know these improvements have been in the works for a long time and are not a response to recent criticisms. However, focusing on simplifying network security, improving Ethereum account functionality, and expanding data block capacity are key development directions to achieve Ethereum's goals.