Ethereum

the ethereum pectra upgrade is coming. it’s one of the most ambitious upgrades yet. 

here is what you need to know 🧵

lore @optimism | ex: @coinbase | views are my own | what if it all worked out? 

first, the process:

teams tested over 100 devnets during an event in kenya (nyota interop). they tried everything. from there, they narrowed down 20+ ideas into 11 that are ready for prime time.

prime time = pectra

here’s what’s in the pectra upgrade:

-2537: bls12-381 precompiles
-2935: historical block hashes in state
-6110: validator deposits on-chain
-7002: triggerable exits
-7251: raise max effective balance
-7549: streamline validator voting
-7623: calldata cost adjustments
-7685: general execution layer requests
-7691: blob throughput increase
-7702: eoa account code
-7840: blob scheduling

eip-7702: upgrading EOAs (normal/basic/boring wallets into smarter sexier hotter wallets). 

Think of this like the iPhone moment for wallets. 

today, wallets are kind of basic. they can’t do much beyond sending transactions.

this eip lets today’s EOA wallets  act like “smart wallets”:

- batching multiple actions into one tx (eg bridge and execute a swap OR buy a punk then send it to binji.eth in one tx!) 

- conditional payments (e.g., “pay only if this happens”).

- sponsored txs (someone else pays gas fees for you).

apps and wallets can get REALLY creative with this.

eip-2537: bls12-381 precompiles
ethereum just got a nerdy new calculator for doing super-complicated math. why does this matter?

-  zk tech becomes faster (gm, privacy + scalability).

-staking systems get smarter.

imagine trying to solve a calculus problem with a stick in the dirt, and then someone hands you a calculator, this is that.

eip-2935: saving historical block hashes

right now, ethereum is like your friend who only remembers what happened last week. this upgrade gives it memory stretching back months.

- apps can reference old data.

- light clients (small, efficient nodes) become actually useful.

also, this is step 1 toward making ethereum “stateless,” aka nodes that don’t hoard every single thing forever.

eip-6110: fixing staking deposits

stakers today face a weird delay before their deposits are recognized, like waiting for a text back from someone you just Venmo’d.
this eip removes that delay.

deposits now process faster. validators rejoice.

eip-7002: more control for validators
validators have two keys:

1.the “do my job” key.
2.the “pay me my money” key.

right now, only the first key works for exiting. this eip says, “let’s use the second key too,” giving validators more control over their funds. staking pools (like lido) and other setups also get a big decentralization boost.

eip-7251: raising the staking balance cap

imagine running a business where you stop earning profits after $32  (lol). 

that’s staking today.

this eip raises the cap to 2,048 eth. now validators can compound rewards up to big-boy levels. fewer validators = a cleaner network = less stress for everyone.

eip-7549: validator voting gets smarter

validators currently sign votes like they’re in a courtroom, approving every little detail. 

this eip basically just says, “just group those signatures”

result: 60x less work.

security: unchanged.

It’s like upgrading to google docs to collaborate after using typewriters

eip-7623: calldata cost adjustment

Imagine ethereum  blocks  like packing a suitcase, most people pack normal stuff (transactions), but some people bring their bowling ball collection.

this eip tells heavy packers to pay more for gas

eip-7685: execution layer hotline

Ethereum’s execution (EL) and consensus layers (CL) communicate like coworkers who only use email.

this eip creates a direct hotline between them, like Slack but without the unnecessary memes. 

future upgrades will be easier because of this.

eip-7691 + eip-7840: making blobs better

blobs = big data chunks used by rollups .

right now, ethereum processes 3 blobs per block.

 this upgrade doubles this to 6

result: cheaper rollups, faster scaling, and lower gas fees for everyone.

massive thanks to 
@tim for all the great updates and the ethereum core devs. 

they’re the heroes here. 

if you see a core dev, buy them coffee or a blob. whatever they’re into

Twitter version in case you want to amplify it there!

Twitter version in case you want to amplify it there! 

https://x.com/binji_x/status/1874422557992263720

so, what is pectra?

pectra = prague + electra. 

it’s ethereum’s  glow-up. 

let’s dive in.

Great summary! I felt a bit intimidated to start it, but you made it pretty clear for a nondev. Thanks!

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This is the longest thread I’ve seen on here. Thanks ! Such a good read. 😁✨