What changes will the Prague upgrade bring to Ethereum?

Source: Ebunker

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.

Here are the key points of the upgrade:

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

(2) Through advanced encryption technology and improvements to the PoS protocol, Ethereum's security and stability will be enhanced.

(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) The upgrade 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 profound impact on the Ethereum ecosystem, covering various Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs). The following is an overview of these EIPs:

Verkle trees and statelessness: EIP-2935 introduced Verkle trees and enabled 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 the decentralization of Ethereum by enabling verification through "resource-constrained devices such as tablets and mobile phones."

Obsolete historical data:Since nodes no longer need to store Ethereum’s full block history, EIP-4444 formally provides for the deletion of historical data from full nodes after a specified period of time, further reducing computational requirements and improving node decentralization.

According to Vitalik Buterin, “the amount of data required to run a node will be reduced from several terabytes to potentially running a node in normal 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 planned upgrades by Pectra are aimed at improving staking efficiency):

EIP-6110 aims to reduce latency between staking collateral and latency in the processing of these transactions on the Ethereum mainnet execution layer and 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, a stake provider must launch multiple validators, each of which must stake 32 ETH. Since each validator must keep up with the rest of the network, a surge in validators can put pressure on the network's communication layer.

The Pectra upgrade will allow stake providers to consolidate their stakes into 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, reduce pressure on the validator network layer, and potentially improve the efficiency and performance of the network.

Meanwhile, EIP-7002 expands the design options available to stake 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 group of EIPs related to the EVM Object Format (EOF) aims 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 introduce smart account functionality to regular externally owned account (EOA) wallets, enabling batched transaction execution, transaction fee sponsorship, and delegated wallet security.

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

Pending EIPs:EIP-7688, while not yet confirmed for inclusion in the Pectra upgrade, simplifies the process of whether or not validators participating in the staking pool are slashed (fined).

Developers are also considering a proposal to reduce the rate of new Ether issuance. However, many community members oppose the proposal put forward by Ethereum Foundation researchers because 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 more powerful security features and stability enhancements, allowing them to build applications with higher trust and reliability. The overall developer experience will be improved through better documentation, support, and a more vibrant and collaborative ecosystem.

For users:

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 more user-friendly in the future.

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

The impact of Pectra upgrade on Ethereum development

By addressing the network’s scalability challenges, enhancing security and stability, and introducing developer-friendly features, this upgrade will take Ethereum to new heights and consolidate 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.