During the first Ethereum developer teleconference of 2025 (ACDE Call), plans were announced to activate the Pectra upgrade on the mainnet in early to mid-March.

Key Changes in Pectra:

• Account Abstraction: Simplifying user interactions with the network.
• Validator Updates: Increasing the maximum staking limit from 32 to 2048 ETH.
• Gas Optimization: Reducing transaction costs.
• Performance Enhancements: Accelerating operation processing and improving scalability.

To test the upgrades, developers have already launched the fifth devnet, alongside the Mekong testnet, which has been in use since November.

Timeline for Testnet Upgrades:

• By late January – Selection of blocks for forks.
• February 3 – Release of client updates.
• February 12 – Upgrade implementation in the Sepolia network.
• February 19 – Upgrade implementation in the Holesky network.

Developers decided against creating temporary solutions for testing and are instead using shadow forks of the main testnets.

Security and Audit

Ethereum Foundation security researcher Frédéric Cervantes reported the successful completion of an external audit of Pectra’s systеm contracts, confirming no critical issues were identified.

It is worth recalling that work on Pectra began in May 2024, and in September, developers decided to split the upgrade into two phases to expedite its deployment.

The upgrade is expected to significantly enhance user experience, boost network efficiency, and expand validator capabilities.