The Ethereum network is preparing for the launch of its next hard fork upgrade, “Pectra.” On Thursday, the Ethereum development team revealed that it plans to split the Pectra upgrade in two. According to developers, Pectra was becoming too ambitious to ship all at once, and splitting the upgrade reduces the risk of bugs in the new system.
The developers decided that eight Ethereum improvement proposals (EIPs) would be included in the first package. The first package will include EIP-7702, aimed at improving the user experience of wallets. The second package is up to be changed over the next few months, allowing it to be changed with new proposals for the upgrade.
“There seems to be agreements to split current Pectra somehow,” said Ethereum Foundation researcher Alex Stokes. “And then downstream, we can figure out what comes next.”
“I hear everyone that, it can be tricky to not want to put new things in. I would lean towards, again, keeping the scope very small, just because then that’s going to maximize our chances of actually shipping the second fork very quickly with respect to this first one,” Stokes added. “Generally, smaller forks are less risky.”
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Previously, developers shared they would aim to have the upgrade live in early 2025, perhaps in February. However, it may be the case that only the first part of the Pectra upgrade will go live in early 2025. It’s unclear how long the Ethereum developers will wait to release the second part following the launch of the first.