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.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coindesk, Ethereum developers have officially confirmed the testing dates for the Pectra upgrade. The upgrade will begin testing on the Holesky testnet on February 26, followed by a second round of testing on the Sepolia testnet on March 5. If the testing goes smoothly, the developers will hold a meeting on March 6 to determine the official launch date, which is expected to go live on the mainnet in early April.The Pectra upgrade (composed of the Prague and Electra upgrades) includes 8 significant improvements, primarily focusing on wallets and validators. Among them, EIP-7702 will enhance the user experience of cryptocurrency wallets; EIP-7251 will allow validators to increase their staking limit from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Gautham Santhosh, co-founder of the DeFi derivatives protocol Polynomial, stated that the Ethereum Pectra upgrade can only temporarily alleviate capacity issues. "55% of all blob space has already been consumed by L2. At the current growth rate, we are only a few months away from everything collapsing. It's like having 50 developing cities with only 3 lanes on the highway." The Ethereum Pectra upgrade is scheduled for March 2025 and is expected to increase the blob limit per block to 9.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Galaxy cryptocurrency researcher Christine Kim believes that due to the current complexity of the Pectra fork and the increased demand for upgrades, the possibility of splitting into two independent upgrades (Prague upgrade and Electra upgrade) is "very high." Christine Kim previously summarized the 196th Ethereum Core Developers Meeting (ACDE), stating that Ethereum developers are seriously considering executing the Pectra upgrade in two phases.In addition, Christine Kim also added that if developers decide to split the Pectra upgrade into two hard forks, the scope could change significantly. It is reported that Ethereum developers will make a decision on this during the next Ethereum All Core Developers teleconference on September 19.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, as Ethereum is set to undergo the Pectra upgrade in early 2025, Liquid Collective and Obol have released a latest research report revealing several risks associated with this upgrade. The report emphasizes the importance of client, operator, and cloud diversity, while also expressing concerns about the limited adoption of Distributed Validator Technology (DVT). Matt Leisinger, Chief Product Officer of Alluvial, stated that addressing the risks associated with Ethereum staking and protocol-level penalties has become a pressing priority.The report specifically points out that potential bugs in mainstream clients could trigger severe slashing penalties and network instability. In terms of staking, operator diversity is crucial for maintaining network health and preventing single points of failure. Leisinger emphasized that stakers and service providers must rigorously assess relevance, diversity, and risk mitigation measures to address potential risks. Additionally, the report discusses the issue of cloud diversity, calling for widely distributed validators and cloud providers to enhance system resilience. DVT technology is seen as an important means to reduce associated risks and enhance validator resilience. For long-term resilience and institutional adoption, staking configurations should prioritize the diversity of node operators and validators.

ChainCatcher news, according to a post by ETH Daily, the Ethereum Pectra upgrade is scheduled for the first quarter of 2025. This upgrade is expected to include EOF, Peer DAS, EIP-7702, and other proposals.