Ethereum Major Update: The Pectra Upgrade Will Change Gas Fees, Validator Staking, and More
ChainCatcher news, 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 expected to be released around February 2025.
Currently, regardless of which tokens are transferred, Gas fees on Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, and other Layer 2 networks must be paid in ETH. A proposal included in the first part of Pectra, EIP-7702, will effectively end this requirement, allowing users to pay Gas fees with other more versatile cryptocurrencies.
Another improvement is EIP-7251, which will allow Ethereum stakers to earn rewards on staked amounts exceeding 32 ETH. For example, users currently staking 40 ETH cannot earn from the additional 8 ETH or gain voting rights. This will significantly reduce the bandwidth requirements for the entire Ethereum network.
Additionally, two other proposals included in the initial version of Pectra, EIP-6110 and EIP-7002, will also implement fully automated and permissionless ETH staking pools for the first time. The remainder of Pectra may not arrive until 2026.