Developers have already penciled in nine EIPs for inclusion in Ethereum’s next hard fork.<\/p>\n
With Ethereum\u2019s forthcoming Pectra upgrade shaping up to be the most expansive in the network\u2019s history, developers are considering splitting its deployment over two separate hard forks.<\/p>\n
Following the latest All Core Devs Execution call<\/a> on June 6, Christine Kim, a researcher at Galaxy Digital, tweeted<\/a> that developers are exploring executing the upgrade over two forks.<\/p>\n Kim noted that nine Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) are already confirmed for inclusion, with an additional five upgrades under consideration. She added that the upgrades are being staged in batches across devnet implementations, enabling Pectra\u2019s scope to expand in the lead-up to deployment.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is A LOT for one upgrade, so there’s still a good chance Pectra gets split,\u201d Kim said. \u201cStaging multiple EIPs for implementation on devnets is a new development for the Ethereum governance process that leaves the door open for an upgrade with an ever-changing scope.\u201d<\/p>\n Pectra\u2019s upcoming Devnet 1 will include the same eight EIPs tested on Devnet 0.<\/p>\n According to Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum\u2019s chief scientist, Pectra is among the last upgrades expected to introduce disruptive changes<\/a> to Ethereum.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter scaling is done, we\u2019re in a stage where the hardest and fastest parts of the Ethereum protocol\u2019s transition are essentially over,\u201d Buterin said during an Ethereum Foundation livestream in April 2023. \u201cVarious things will need to be done, but those\u2026 things can be safely done at a slower pace.\u201d<\/p>\n Five execution layer upgrades and four consensus layer upgrades have been \u201cfinalized<\/a>\u201d for inclusion as part of Pectra so far, spanning an eclectic assortment of EIPs dating as far back as 2020.<\/p>\n EIP-2935<\/a> is a critical component of Pectra required to facilitate the introduction of Verkle Trees<\/a> and statelessness. Verkle Trees will remove the need for nodes to store the network\u2019s state locally, significantly reducing the computational requirements on validators.<\/p>\n According to Kim, developers are also working on three related \u201cparallel upgrades\u201d that are likely to be bundled into Pectra.<\/p>\n These include the development of validator light clients<\/a>, which do not download the entire Ethereum blockchain. Light clients are intended to improve the decentralization of Ethereum by allowing users to validate the network using “resource-constrained devices such as tablets and cell phones.\u201d<\/p>\n With nodes no longer required to store the entire block history of Ethereum, EIP-4444<\/a> would also formalize the deletion of historic data from full nodes after a set amount of time, further reducing the computational demands for validators in a bid to improve node decentralization.<\/p>\n \u201cWith EIP-4444: History Expiry, you would not have to store most of the history locally,\u201d said Buterin. \u201cThe amount of data that you would need to be a node would decrease from multiple terabytes to… being able to run a node in RAM.\u201d<\/p>\n DApps and other nodes that need to access deleted block history would be able to query third-party data services following EIP-4444\u2019s deployment.<\/p>\n Developers are also exploring PeerDAS<\/a>, which would provide further Layer 2 data availability following the introduction of proto-danksharding<\/a> in March.<\/p>\n Many of the upgrades set for inclusion in Pectra seek to improve the functionality and efficiency of Ethereum staking.<\/p>\n EIP-6110<\/a> aims to decrease the delay between stakers depositing collateral on the Ethereum mainnet execution layer and the corresponding transaction processing on the Beacon Chain. It would also reduce the complexity of validator client software.<\/p>\n EIP-7251<\/a> aims to slow the growth and reduce the size of Ethereum\u2019s validator set to bolster the network’s security. EIP-7002<\/a> would expand the number of designs available to developers creating staking pools.<\/p>\n EIP-7549<\/a> targets improving the efficiency of attestations, which would reduce network load and node bandwidth demands.<\/p>\n On the execution layer, EIP-2537<\/a> and EIP-7865<\/a> would bolster interoperability between the Ethereum mainnet and its Beacon Chain consensus layer. This would expand the functionality of decentralized staking pools, DAOs, and dApps that communicate with the Beacon Chain for staking functions.<\/p>\n A bundle of ten EIPs relating to EVM Object Format<\/a> (EOF) aims to facelift the Ethereum Virtual Machine, Ethereum\u2019s core smart contract engine. EOF would improve the upgradability of EVM contracts alongside the efficiency of smart contract code execution.<\/p>\n EIP-7702<\/a> is a controversial upgrade that would enable \u201csmart account<\/a>\u201d features for regular externally owned account (EOA) wallets. The upgrade would enable batched transaction execution, transaction fee sponsoring, and delegated wallet security, but critics have warned the upgrade could make users vulnerable to new attack vectors<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s important to note that devs are staging the implementation of Pectra EIPs, meaning if EOF or EIP-7702 or PeerDAS don’t make it into a devnet over the coming months, devs may drop it entirely from the upgrade or split out Pectra into two hard forks,\u201d Kim said.<\/p>\n Kim noted two additional consensus layer upgrades that developers have not yet confirmed for inclusion in Pectra.<\/p>\nDisruptive changes<\/h2>\n
Verkle Trees and statelessness<\/h2>\n
Consensus layer upgrades<\/h2>\n
Execution layer upgrades<\/h2>\n
Unconfirmed upgrades<\/h2>\n