What changes will the Prague upgrade bring to Ethereum?

In the first quarter of 2025, Ethereum will usher in the Prague/Electra upgrade, referred to as the Prague upgrade or Pectra upgrade, which is the next milestone of Ethereum. Unlike previous major upgrades, the Pectra upgrade does not have a prominent main goal, but focuses on multiple technical improvements and optimizations. This article will introduce the important content that this upgrade will involve.

Ethereum’s important upgrade after The Merge

Here are the key points of the upgrade:

(1) Bring significant improvements to Ethereum’s scalability, including L2 solutions such as sharding technology and rollup.

(2) The security and stability of Ethereum will be enhanced through advanced encryption technology and improvements to the PoS protocol.

(3) Developers will benefit from new programming languages, improved tools, and simplified smart contract deployment.

(4) Users can expect a more intuitive and easier-to-use experience, lower gas fees, and a friendlier wallet interface.

(5) Upgrades will continue to address environmental issues and make Ethereum more energy-efficient and sustainable.

The Pectra upgrade will introduce a series of improvements and enhancements that will have a far-reaching impact on the Ethereum ecosystem, covering various Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs). Here is an overview of these EIPs:

Verkle trees and statelessness: EIP-2935 introduces Verkle trees and enables statelessness in Pectra. Verkle trees eliminate the need for nodes to store network state locally, greatly reducing the computational burden on validators.

Validator light clients: In addition to Verkle trees and statelessness, Pectra may also include three additional “parallel upgrades.” These upgrades include the development of validator light clients, which allow users to verify the network without downloading the entire Ethereum blockchain.

According to Ethereum developers, light clients are designed to enhance Ethereum’s decentralization by enabling verification on “resource-constrained devices such as tablets and phones.”

Outdated historical data: Since nodes no longer need to store Ethereum’s full block history, EIP-4444 formally stipulates that historical data will be deleted from full nodes after a specified period of time, further reducing computing requirements and improving node decentralization.

According to Vitalik Buterin, “the amount of data required to run a node will be reduced from terabytes to potentially running a node in regular computer memory.” However, deleted block history will remain archived, and nodes and dapps that need access to deleted block history can query third-party data services after EIP-4444 is implemented.

Consensus Improvements (Several upgrades planned by Pectra are aimed at improving staking efficiency):

EIP-6110 aims to reduce latency between pledged collateral and the processing of these transactions on the Ethereum mainnet execution layer and the beacon chain, simplifying validator client software.

EIP-7251 enhances the security of the network by slowing the growth of Ethereum’s validator set and reducing its size.

The current pain point is that the maximum effective balance of an Ethereum validator is 32 ETH. Therefore, to stake more than 32 ETH, the staking provider must launch multiple validators, each of which must stake 32 ETH. Since each validator must keep pace with the rest of the network, the surge in validators may put pressure on the networks communication layer.

The Pectra upgrade will allow stakers to consolidate their stakes across fewer validators by increasing the maximum effective balance to 2,048 ETH. This will reduce the number of messages that need to be passed around the network, relieving pressure on the validator network layer and potentially improving the efficiency and performance of the network.

Meanwhile, EIP-7002 expands the design options available to staking pool developers, while EIP-7549 focuses on improving proof efficiency, thereby reducing network load and the bandwidth required by nodes.

Execution Upgrades: At the execution layer, EIP-2537 and EIP-7865 aim to improve interoperability between the Ethereum mainnet and its beacon chain consensus layer. This enhances the functionality of decentralized staking pools, dapps, and DAOs that interact with the beacon chain for staking. A set of EIPs related to the EVM Object Format (EOF) aim to upgrade the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the core engine of Ethereum smart contracts. EOF aims to improve the upgradability of EVM contracts and improve the efficiency of smart contract code execution.

EIP-7702 is a proposal to bring smart account functionality to regular externally owned account (EOA) wallets, enabling batched transaction execution, transaction fee sponsorship, and delegated wallet security.

However, considering the complexity of the project, the Ethereum team said that EOF and EIP-7702 may be deleted from this upgrade or split into two hard forks.

Pending EIP : EIP-7688, while not yet confirmed for inclusion in the Pectra upgrade, simplifies the process by which staking pools verify whether participating validators have been slashed (fined).

Developers are also considering a proposal to reduce the rate at which new Ether is issued. However, many community members oppose the suggestion made by Ethereum Foundation researchers, as frequent changes to the network’s token economics without broad community input require careful consideration.

What the Pectra upgrade means for developers and users

The Pectra upgrade is of great significance to both Ethereum developers and users as it will change the network’s functionality and user experience.

For developers, improved scalability and reduced gas costs will enable developers to build more efficient and cost-effective dapps on the Ethereum network. The introduction of enhanced development tools will simplify the process of creating and deploying smart contracts, promoting greater innovation and experimentation.

Developers will have access to stronger security features and stability enhancements, enabling them to build applications with greater trust and reliability. The overall developer experience will be improved through better documentation, support, and a more vibrant and collaborative ecosystem.

사용자를 위해:

1. Improved scalability will speed up transaction processing and reduce network congestion;

2. Lower gas fees will make Ethereum-based transactions more accessible and usable by a wide range of users;

3. Enhanced user-friendliness, such as an improved wallet interface and intuitive token management, will make the APP even easier to use in the future.

The environmental sustainability improvements introduced by the Pectra upgrade will address concerns surrounding the network’s energy consumption, making Ethereum a more attractive option for environmentally conscious users. By addressing the needs of developers and users, the Pectra upgrade positions Ethereum as a more powerful, scalable, and user-friendly platform that continues to drive widespread adoption and innovation in the decentralized ecosystem.

The impact of Pectra upgrade on Ethereum development

By addressing the networks scalability challenges, enhancing security and stability, and introducing developer-friendly features, this upgrade will help Ethereum reach new heights and solidify its position as the leading platform for the decentralized ecosystem. Ebunker believes that by continuously pushing the boundaries of what is possible, Ethereum has the potential to change the way people interact with and utilize blockchain technology — enabling developers, users, and the broader community to unlock new possibilities.

This article is sourced from the internet: What changes will the Prague upgrade bring to Ethereum?

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