Ethereum has successfully launched its Pectra update on the mainnet, the most ambitious since The Merge. Pectra introduces improvements that will transform the user experience, optimize staking, and consolidate Ethereum's leadership in Web 3.
This Wednesday, May 7, Ethereum developers completed one of the most anticipated and momentous updates in its history: Pectra activation on the mainnet.
Pectra, considered the biggest innovation since The Merge, which took place in 2022 and the Dencun update, in 2024, marks one before and one after in the architecture and functionality of the world's second-largest blockchain by market capitalization.
After overcoming several delays and extensive testing on testnets, core Ethereum developers Tim Beiko and Rajeev Anand confirmed that the Pectra mainnet deployment was smooth and that the network is now operating under the new consensus and execution rules. The upgrade was deployed on the era 364032 like a hard fork.
BUY ETHEREUM SAFELY AND EASILY HEREWith this successful activation, Ethereum records a new milestone in its history, which not only reinforces institutional confidence in the network, but also opens a new era of possibilities for developers, validators, and end users, by offering revolutionary improvements in scalability, usability, and security.
Pectra ushers in a new era for Ethereum and Web3
The Pectra update represents much more than a mere technical upgrade; it is a comprehensive transformation that merges two major proposals. On the one hand, Prague, designed for the execution layer, and Electra, for the consensus layer. This unification enables coordinated improvements across all dimensions of the protocol, prioritizing scalability, efficiency, and user experience. According to the developers, Pectra is the most ambitious update since The Merge, as introduces more than a dozen Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including EIP-7702 and EIP-7251, which have been widely celebrated by the community.
In the long term, Pectra consolidates Ethereum's leadership in the smart contract and dApp ecosystem, facilitating the integration of new users and use cases.
For Web3 in general, this new update means a greater accessibility, security and flexibility, by allowing wallets and applications to operate more intuitively and securely. Additionally, the ability to pay network fees with tokens other than ETH, thanks to the account abstraction, opens the door to a much more inclusive and user-friendly experience for non-technical network users.
In short, Pectra not only improves Ethereum's infrastructure, but also lays the groundwork for widespread Web3 adoption.
Key Pectra improvements: Usability, staking, and scalability
One of the pillars of Pectra is the optimizing the user experience, specifically through EIP-7702. This proposal allows externally owned accounts (EOAs), i.e., the wallets of ordinary users, to temporarily act as smart contracts. According to the developers, this unlocks advanced features such as transaction grouping, sponsorship gas fees and the ability to pay commissions with tokens other than ETH, Ethereum's native cryptocurrency. These innovations not only simplify the use of decentralized applications but also lower the barriers to entry for new users and projects.
YOUR SECURE DOOR TO CRYPTO HEREAs for staking, EIP-7251 increases the limit of ETH that a validator can lock on the network, going from 32 to 2.048 ETHIn general, this change is specifically targeted at institutional validators and large investors, allowing for more efficient management of their stakes and reducing congestion in the consensus layer. Furthermore, the validator onboarding and exit processes have been simplified with the arrival of Pectra to streamline the onboarding of new players and improve the overall security of the blockchain.
In terms of scalability, Pectra Doubles the number of “blob” data units that can be included per block, from 3 to 6, improving the capacity of Layer 2 solutions and reducing transaction costs. All of these improvements, combined with the optimization of the EVM Object Format (EOF) bytecode format, prepare Ethereum for future upgrades and ensure greater stability for developers.
Ethereum is reconquering the market
The activation of Pectra has generated palpable optimism in the Ethereum ecosystem. From a developer perspective, the upgrade facilitates the creation of more secure, flexible, and user-friendly applications, which could attract a greater number of users and projects to the network. For institutional validators, the ability to stake larger amounts of ETH and simplify their operations provides a key incentive to increase their participation and engagement with the blockchain network.
In the market, the news of the activation has already had a positive impact on the price of ETH, which registered an increase of nearly 2,5% in the hours following the launch. According to market data, ETH is trading at around $1.830 at the time of writing.
TRADE WITH CONFIDENCE – BIT2ME LIFEFurthermore, the crypto community is eager to see these improvements strengthen Ethereum's position as the leading smart contract platform against emerging competitors. According to analysts, Pectra's success could influence future upgrades and consolidate Ethereum's dominance in the global blockchain ecosystem.
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¿Why is it so important?
On social media, Rajeev Anand said that, after the successful activation of Pectra, Ethereum is ready for scalability.
For his part, Mehdi Aouadi, engineer at Consensys, stressed that the implementation of Pectra “is proof that the protocol is evolving”. From Consensys, Tian Lim also commented that Pectra is more than a technical upgrade and that it is making Ethereum more more usable, scalable, and human-friendly.
It's worth remembering that the activation of Pectra comes at a pivotal moment for Ethereum, as the Ethereum Foundation has faced considerable criticism for its slow implementation of improvements and growing competition from other blockchains. Furthermore, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently acknowledged the need to reduce the network's complexity, stating that this complexity has hampered maintenance and, among other things, the onboarding of developers.
However, the arrival of Pectra demonstrates that the network continues to focus on innovation and continuous improvement. This update is a resounding response to those who doubted Ethereum's ability to adapt to market and Web 3 demands. By facilitating institutional staking, improving the user experience, and optimizing resource management, the network is positioning itself as the most robust and flexible option for developing decentralized applications.
BUY ETHEREUM (ETH) ON BIT2MEUltimately, Pectra not only marks a turning point in Ethereum's history, but also lays the foundation for the future of blockchain and Web3 in general, facilitating mass adoption of blockchain technology, reinforcing institutional trust, and strengthening Ethereum's position as the undisputed leader in the crypto ecosystem.
Network developers have emphasized that the path toward a more efficient, secure, and accessible network is underway, and Pectra is another major step toward that future.
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