Ethereum Pectra Upgrade Goes Live on Sepolia – Is ETH Primed for a Breakout?

• Key improvements introduced by Pectra include EIP-7702 for enhanced crypto wallet usability, EIP-7251 raising validator stake limits to 2,048 ETH.
• This second phase of testnet activations follows the successful rollout on Holesky in February, despite earlier challenges with chain splits and delayed finality.

Ethereum developers have successfully activated the much-awaited Pectra upgrade on the Sepolia testnet on Wednesday, March 5. Before the deployment on the Ethereum mainnet, the Sepolia testnet will test the upgrade features of the Pectra upgrade under the simulated network conditions.

Note that the release on the Sepolia testnet is the final major rollout before the Pectra upgrade hits the Ethereum mainnet, expected sometime next month in April, as highlighted in our previous report. Today’s deployment of Pectra on Sepolia marks the second phase of testnet activations, after the successful rollout of the Holesky testnet last month on February 24.

Ethereum Developers Faced Challenges for Deployment on Sepolia

The developments of Ethereum Pectra upgrade on Sepolia came with some challenges for the developers, such as the issues concerning incorrect deposit contract addresses in execution clients, which led to chain splits and delayed finality, as also faced on the Holesky testnet. Developers have since resolved the problem and are working to stabilize the network.

The Sepolia rollout includes the much-anticipated Pectra upgrade, a blend of execution-layer changes (“Prague”) and consensus-layer updates (“Electra”). This upgrade introduces enhancements designed to boost Ethereum’s scalability and performance.

Ethereum developers will finalize the mainnet activation date for the Pectra upgrade during Thursday’s All Core Developers (ACD) call. If plans stay on track, a mainnet fork for Ethereum is likely to occur in early April, as noted in our previous news story. Building on the March 2024 Dencun hard fork, which successfully reduced Layer 2 fees, the Pectra upgrade highlights Ethereum’s commitment to maintaining its competitive edge.

Pectra introduces significant enhancements aimed at improving scalability, security, and user experience. Key updates include:

• EIP-7702: Enhances user experience in crypto wallets and facilitates account abstraction.
• EIP-7251: Raises the validator stake limit from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH, bolstering network security and efficiency.
• EIP-7691: Increases the maximum blob count to advance rollup scalability, supporting Ethereum’s long-term scaling roadmap.

Will ETH Rally Past $3,000?

The ETH price has severely underperformed the rest of the crypto market, falling to $2,000 earlier this week and wiping out all gains since the US Presidential elections in November 2024. According to our recent analysis, big players have recently offloaded a large part of their ETH holdings. However, following this drop, Ethereum is again showing upward momentum, trading 5% up in the last 24 hours around $2,215 levels.

Ethereum (ETH) is currently testing a critical support level, according to market analyst, Crypto Fella. The analyst expressed optimism about the cryptocurrency’s outlook, stating, “I think the bottom is close.”