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Ruholamin Haqshanas
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Ruholamin Haqshanas
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Ethereum’s highly anticipated Pectra upgrade has successfully gone live on the Sepolia testnet, marking a crucial step toward its eventual mainnet deployment.
The upgrade was activated at 7:29 am UTC on March 5, achieving a flawless proposal rate, according to Ethereum core developer Terence.
This marks the second phase of Pectra’s testnet activations, following its initial rollout on the Holesky testnet on February 24.
Holesky Testnet Faces Chain Splits and Delays Due to Deposit Contract Issues
Holesky’s activation faced unexpected challenges due to incorrect deposit contract addresses in execution clients, causing chain splits and finality delays.
However, Ethereum developers swiftly addressed the issue, stabilizing the network and ensuring the Sepolia deployment proceeded as planned.
Pectra consists of 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) designed to enhance Ethereum’s scalability, security, and usability.
The upgrade combines “Prague” (execution layer changes) and “Electra” (consensus layer updates) to improve network efficiency.
Among its key changes, EIP-7702 enhances wallet user experience and account abstraction, while EIP-7251 significantly increases the validator stake limit from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH.
Additionally, EIP-7691 raises the maximum blob count to improve rollup scalability.
Ethereum’s developer community is set to finalize the mainnet activation date during the upcoming All Core Developers (ACD) call on Thursday.
If the timeline remains on track, Pectra’s mainnet launch is expected in early April.
The upgrade follows Ethereum’s Dencun hard fork in March 2024, which reduced Layer 2 transaction fees.
With Pectra, Ethereum continues to push for greater efficiency and scalability, reinforcing its position as a leading blockchain network.
Ethereum Exchange Supply Hits Record Low
As reported, a significant on-chain metric supporting ETH’s long-term bullish case is its rapidly declining exchange supply.
As of now, only 6.38% of Ethereum’s total supply remains on centralized exchanges, marking the lowest level since its inception.
This trend suggests that investors are moving ETH into cold storage, a signal that they intend to hold rather than sell.
Last month, Ethereum experienced an unprecedented level of short selling, with futures contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reaching a record high of 11,341.
The surge in bearish bets, up over 40% in just a week and 500% since last November, indicated growing pessimism about Ethereum’s short-term outlook.
Meanwhile, Ethereum’s transaction fees have also plummeted to their lowest level since late August, averaging just $0.41 per transfer.
The significant decrease marks a stark contrast to the $15.21 high seen in the past two years, indicating potential bullish sentiment for Ethereum’s long-term price outlook.
Historically, low transaction fees on the Ethereum network signal reduced congestion, meaning fewer users are competing to process transactions. This can be seen as a healthy sign for the network, especially for potential long-term growth.
