Ethereum Developers Address Bugs and Plan Pectra Upgrade

On January 23, 2025, Ethereum developers convened via Zoom for the All Core Developers Consensus (ACDC) call #149, chaired by Ethereum Foundation Researcher Alex Stokes, according to galaxy.com. The biweekly meetings aim to coordinate changes to Ethereum’s consensus layer, known as the Beacon Chain.

Pectra Devnet 5 & 6

The developers addressed bugs on Pectra Devnet 5, including a gas estimation issue leading to a three-way chain split, as stated by EF DevOps Engineer Rafael Matias. The network has not finalized, prompting the Nethermind, Reth, Erigon, and Besu client teams to work on fixes. The latest hive test on Devnet 5 failed, necessitating further investigation.

In response, developers agreed to launch Devnet 6 before upgrading public testnets. Matias emphasized the need for bug fixes and successful hive tests before proceeding. Stokes noted pending changes to EIP 7702 on GitHub, with Geth developer ‘Lightclient’ tasked to finalize them. A new CL specifications release for Pectra, version 1.5.0-beta.1, was mentioned, although it lacks substantial changes from the previous release.

Pectra Public Testnet and Mainnet Fork Timing

The developers proposed a timeline for Ethereum’s public testnets and mainnet upgrades. EF Protocol Support Lead Tim Beiko suggested a mainnet activation on March 11, 2025, less than a year after the Dencun upgrade. This timeline would require public testnets Sepolia and Holesky to upgrade by February 19 and 24, respectively, ideally earlier to allow adequate preparation time.

Despite the tentative timeline, developers have yet to resolve Devnet 5’s bugs or launch Devnet 6. Beiko plans to propose specific block numbers for discussion at the next ACD call and stressed the importance of near-final client releases by February 3, 2025.

PeerDAS

Developer ‘Manu’ shared updates on PeerDAS, a major scaling improvement planned for the Fusaka upgrade following Pectra. PeerDAS aims to enhance Ethereum’s capacity to process blob transactions, potentially increasing throughput by 8x, according to EF Research Ansgar Dietrichs. However, Prysm developer Terence Tsao warned that increasing blob throughput might be challenging, requiring further research and testing.

Fusaka Fork Planning Process

Beiko invited feedback on Ethereum’s fork planning process, reflecting on the coordination challenges faced with Pectra. He proposed an Ethereum Magicians forum to discuss governance improvements for future upgrades, encouraging community participation. Stokes reminded client teams of upcoming Pectra testing calls, with less than 100 days before the self-imposed deadline to remove pre-Merge history from clients.

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