ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Ethereum developers have officially set the mainnet launch date for the Pectra upgrade to May 7, 2025.This upgrade is the largest system update since March 2024, featuring 11 improvement proposals (EIPs), with a focus on wallet contract functionality (enhancing usability and recovery) and EIP-7251 (increasing the single-node staking limit from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH). The upgrade has successfully run on the Hoodi testnet.

ChainCatcher news, according to Ethereum core developer Terence's post on X, the Ethereum testnet Pectra is tentatively scheduled to launch on the mainnet on April 30. Waiting for the next core developer to resolve some unresolved minor issues and conduct a comprehensive confirmation.

ChainCatcher news, Galaxy's Vice President of Research Christine Kim published a summary of the 153rd Ethereum Core Developers Consensus (ACDC) conference call.This week, developers reaffirmed the Pectra testing plan and scheduled an upgrade for the newly launched Hoodi testnet on March 26; developers agreed to postpone the mainnet date for Pectra until they see the upgrade status of Hoodi and further testing of Pectra's features on Hoodi; additionally, developers discussed the inclusion of EIP 7688 in the Fusaka upgrade.

ChainCatcher news, Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko posted on social media that the new testnet Hoodi has been launched, aimed at helping to complete the testing of Pectra. The Pectra upgrade will be launched on the Hoodi testnet next Wednesday.Meanwhile, the Holesky testnet will continue to be maintained until September and can still be used to test everything, but it does not support validator exit testing.

ChainCatcher message, the Ethereum Foundation stated in its official blog that during the activation process of the Pectra testnet, issues were exposed regarding the configuration changes of the deposit contract on the Ethereum testnet in the client. Although the recovery process of the Sepolia network was relatively straightforward and has now been fully restored, the Holesky network experienced a significant amount of inactive leakage during the recovery mechanism. The Holesky network has since completed its final confirmation, but it will take about a year for the exiting validators to be completely removed from the validator set. While stakers can test deposits, merges, and all other Pectra features, the scale of the exit queue makes Holesky unsuitable for testing the complete validator lifecycle within a reasonable timeframe.To address this issue, a new testnet has been launched: Hoodi. It will activate the Pectra network upgrade at epoch 2048 (Beijing time March 26, 2025, Wednesday 15:37:12). In the future, staking operators and infrastructure providers should use Hoodi for validator testing. To allow time for migration, the Holesky testnet will be supported until September 2025. All other Pectra features can be tested on Holesky except for validator exits.Summary of testnets and their uses:Holesky: Validators and staking providers (expected termination date: September 30, 2025). Client developers will also use Holesky to test gas limit increases and other protocol stress tests.Sepolia: Application and tool developers (expected termination date: September 30, 2026).Hoodi: Validators and staking providers (expected termination date: September 30, 2028).Planned Sepolia alternative: Expected to launch in March 2026.

ChainCatcher message, Tim Beiko, the protocol support lead at the Ethereum Foundation, updated on X about the latest information regarding the Pectra upgrade.A new long-term testnet, Hoodi, will launch on March 17, and this testnet will execute the Pectra upgrade test on March 26;After Hoodi successfully executes the Pectra upgrade test, the mainnet upgrade time will be decided, expected to be at least 30 days after the test upgrade (on or after April 25).The Fusaka plan will be executed synchronously, with the deadline for proposing EIPs set for March 24, and the tentative freeze date for the upgrade scope set for April 10.

ChainCatcher message, Ethereum's Pectra upgrade on the Sepolia testnet is facing interruptions, as an unknown attacker exploited the zero-token transfer situation, resulting in the mining of empty blocks.

ChainCatcher news, Ethereum Foundation (EF) protocol support lead Tim Beiko updated on X: "Well, it seems I spoke too soon... We are investigating issues caused by the custom deposit contract on Sepolia. This has led to problems with some execution layer (EL) clients, including transactions in blocks."Previous news, the Pectra upgrade has been activated on the Sepolia testnet and is entering the final testing phase.

ChainCatcher news, the upcoming Pectra upgrade for Ethereum was activated on the Sepolia testnet around 14:30 Beijing time today.It is reported that the Sepolia version is the last major release before the mainnet upgrade launch, which is expected to start next month. This deployment marks the second phase of the Pectra testnet activation, following Pectra's launch on the Holesky testnet on February 24.The Pectra upgrade is named a combination of "Prague" (execution layer changes) and "Electra" (consensus layer updates), introducing several changes aimed at improving Ethereum's scalability. If performance is good, developers expect to determine the mainnet activation date during the All Core Developers (ACD) call on March 6, 2025. The potential launch time for the mainnet is set for early April.

ChainCatcher message, Vitalik posted on X stating: "In 2025, we need to implement the Fusaka upgrade on Ethereum Layer 1 (Note: the next upgrade after Pectra), equipped with PeerDAS, preferably setting the blob's target/limit to 48/72. Our goal is to launch a Fusaka testnet with these blob parameters the day after Pectra goes live."

ChainCatcher news, according to official sources, the Ethereum Foundation has released the audit results of the Pectra system contract and disclosed that all relevant or significant issues identified during the review have been resolved. The Pectra system contract includes multiple EIPs (EIP-2935, EIP-7002, and EIP-7251), and the audit was primarily aimed at:Assessing potential attack vectors in the contract.Ensuring that the contract logic accurately implements the expected functionality according to EIP specifications.The Ethereum Foundation also stated that a bug bounty competition is currently being held on Cantina, with rewards for vulnerabilities related to Pectra reaching up to $2,000,000.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the Ethereum Pectra upgrade was activated at 5:55 on the Holesky testnet, but according to blockchain data, it was initially not finalized. Finalization refers to the state where once a transaction is confirmed and added to a block, it becomes immutable and irreversible. It is currently unclear why the testnet failed to finalize. Ethereum developers are investigating.This is not the first time an upgrade has not been completed on a testnet; previously, in January 2024, when developers were testing the Dencun upgrade, the hard fork was initially not completed on the Goerli testnet.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, derivative data shows that investor optimism is heating up again, with traders preparing for a rebound in ETH prices ahead of the April Pectra upgrade, while Solana faces downward price pressure.Nick Forster, founder of Derive.xyz, stated that the seven-day implied volatility (IV) for ETH is 66% (comparable to the six-month IV), while Bitcoin's IV is significantly lower. He expects a 30% chance that Ethereum's price will break $3,000 by the end of this quarter, up from 28% last week.

ChainCatcher news, QCP Capital's latest analysis points out that the term structure of the Ethereum options market has shown a significant distortion around the March expiration date, which may be related to the anticipated Pectra upgrade set to launch in early April.Looking back at history, the September 2022 merge upgrade followed the "buy the rumor, sell the news" pattern, with ETH surging before the upgrade and then retreating; while the initial performance of the Shanghai upgrade in April 2023 was pessimistic due to supply concerns, ETH rose 30% after selling pressure did not materialize. The current market may be positioning for the Pectra upgrade, with options volatility leaning bullish after March 28, indicating potential upward expectations.However, the weakness in the altcoin market poses a restraining factor, with the LIBRA collapse, SOL and ETH retreating to pre-election levels, and Bitcoin's market cap nearing historical highs. The continued recovery of altcoins relies on substantial progress in real applications and network development, rather than just speculative funding.

ChainCatcher news, QCP Capital's latest analysis points out that the term structure of the options market has shown a significant distortion around the March expiration date, particularly in Ethereum options. This may reflect the market's positioning for the Ethereum Pectra upgrade, which is currently in the testing phase and expected to go live in early April.Looking back at past upgrades, the September 2022 merge upgrade followed the typical "buy the rumor, sell the news" pattern—ETH fell back after rising over 100% from the June low post-upgrade. In contrast, the Shanghai upgrade in April 2023, which enabled staking withdrawals, faced pessimism due to market concerns about oversupply. However, once the market realized that the selling pressure did not materialize as expected, ETH rose by 30% in the following months.As expectations for the upgrade heat up, traders may be positioning for another volatility event, with options volatility skewed towards call options after March 28—this could lay the groundwork for the next thematic play in the crypto market following the Trump tariff turmoil.One dampening factor is the general weakness in the altcoin market—LIBRA's collapse, SOL and ETH retreating to pre-election levels, and Bitcoin's market cap share nearing historical highs. Beyond market catalysts, altcoins may need to achieve substantial progress in real-world applications and network development to sustain a recovery, rather than relying solely on speculative capital flows.