Ethereum (ETH), a second-largest blockchain by market cap, gears up for the thrice-delayed Pectra launch. Slated for a May release now, it’s been presaged by a third testnet to ensure everything is shipshape.
Ethereum (ETH) devs launch Hoodi: What does this mean?
Deployed on March 17, Hoodi is designed to mirror the mainnet’s environment more closely, complete with over 20 million test-staked ETH and a robust validator set. If all goes well, Pectra could activate on Hoodi by March 26, paving the way for a mainnet debut as early as late April – although May appears more likely.
Pectra promises to make staking even greater and adds a few scalability and usability boosts into the bargain.
But before this promised land can be entered, there’s the small matter of getting the Pectra testnets to play ball – which they now appear to be belatedly doing, Hoodi included.
Ethereum’s (ETH) Pectra upgrade nears mainnet launch
The road to Pectra’s mainnet deployment has been anything but smooth, with developers navigating a labyrinth of setbacks, testnet trials, and a last-minute pivot to a new testing ground called Hoodi. Despite the repeated delays, however, the Ethereum community remains optimistic – with a dash of nervous energy – over what could be a defining moment for the network.
Pectra’s journey began with high hopes but quickly hit turbulence when Ethereum developers rolled out the upgrade on the Holesky testnet, only to watch it stumble. A pesky configuration bug in the client software stalled transaction finality for nearly two weeks, leaving the network in limbo until March 10. Meanwhile, the Sepolia testnet faced its own drama: empty blocks piled up after an unidentified attacker exploited a vulnerability, forcing a fix. These missteps exposed the fragility of Ethereum’s testing process and sparked doubts about meeting the original timeline.
From Holesky to Hoodi
Unfortunate as the repeated delays have been, hopes remain high that Pectra can revitalize Ethereum and pave the way for new innovations throughout the EVM stack, from Ethereum to the L2s such as Optimism that will benefit from lower fees.
As for what else Pectra will add to the mix, Ethereum Product Lead at P2P.org Danyal Hanif commented:
Aside from enabling validators to hold up to 2048 ETH instead of the current 32 ETH cap, enhancements such as auto compounding will enable validators to earn further rewards. There will also be more flexible withdrawals, giving ETH stakers more control over their validators.
In addition to staking improvements, Hanif also highlighted Pectra supporting account abstractions, granting EOAs smart contract functionality.
What else is at stake with Pectra?
Pectra is packed with features that will significantly improve how Ethereum operates, some overt, many covert. Wallets will be able to pay gas fees with stablecoins like USDC instead of ETH thanks to account abstraction. Pectra will also lay the foundation for developers to add support for social recovery, allowing users to regain access to a wallet whose keys they’ve lost.
Despite all the positives about what Pectra’s packing, the timing couldn’t be trickier. Ethereum’s price has been languishing, battered by macroeconomic headwinds such as Trump’s trade wars. Not even the most bullish ethereans believe that Pectra will prop up prices – but they are confident that in the mid-to-long-term, it will prove a catalyst that sparks new innovation and unlocks new use cases.
While a fourth delay isn’t out of the question, as it stands Pectra should be good to go in May, allowing Ethereum’s developer community to breathe a sigh of relief – and then move on with preparations for the next upgrade.
