A new wave of upgrades is set to arrive by the end of the year! What potential highlights does Ethereum’s “Pectra” have in store?
On March 13th, Ethereum officially completed the “Dencun” upgrade, with the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4844 aiming to reduce transaction fees and improve transaction speeds on Ethereum’s Layer 2 chain. This upgrade is expected to contribute to the overall growth of the Ethereum ecosystem. Following the completion of this upgrade, Ethereum developers are already planning for the next upgrade, “Pectra”.
Each Ethereum upgrade follows a specific naming convention. Upgrades at the execution layer are named after cities, while upgrades at the consensus layer are named after constellations. The term “Pectra” is a combination of the words “Prague,” representing the execution layer, and “Electra,” representing the consensus layer. It symbolizes the two types of upgrades that will be implemented on the blockchain.
The “Pectra” upgrade is scheduled to take place in late 2024 or early 2025. While the specific details have not been confirmed yet, recent Ethereum conference calls have mentioned that the next upgrade is expected to include the EIP-3074 proposal, which aims to bring additional functionality to crypto wallets and enhance user experience (UX).
So, what exactly is EIP-3074? It is an Ethereum Improvement Proposal that brings improvements to user experience in wallets. In simple terms, it allows wallets to have similar functionalities to smart contracts without the need for additional contract deployment or manual user upgrades. This proposal enables users to carry out a variety of actions on the blockchain, including bulk transactions, paying transaction fees with different ERC20 tokens (Gas Fee), enhancing security, and account recovery.
According to software engineer Laurence Day, the most useful feature of EIP-3074 is the “sponsored transactions” capability. This allows users to store assets in wallets that do not hold Ether and pay transaction fees through controlled wallet contracts. For blockchain games, this feature eliminates the need for players to confirm and pay transaction fees for each transaction. Players can simply authorize the game developer or a third-party to execute in-game transactions, significantly improving the game’s smoothness and providing a better gaming experience.
Additionally, the batch transaction functionality in the proposal enhances efficiency for liquidity providers and traders while reducing participation costs.
However, despite the promising features of EIP-3074, there are still potential risks. Granting third-party authorization to operate personal accounts through signatures could make users vulnerable to hackers or malicious individuals who may exploit these permissions, resulting in the loss or damage of personal assets or information.
Anonymous developer 0xngmi claims on the community platform X that one drawback of EIP-3074 is the possibility of losing all tokens and NFTs within an address due to a single incorrect signature. Harrison Leggio, co-founder of Gaslite, also stated on X that “people will always find a way to lose money,” citing the example of providing private keys to trading bots.
Although the “Pectra” upgrade is relatively minor compared to previous upgrades that focused on blockchain efficiency and network security, this time it seems to prioritize user experience. It will be worthwhile for the community to continue observing and anticipating the impact it will have on the future development of the Ethereum ecosystem.