Wang Long Chai
January 25, 2025 10:31
Ethereum’s core developers discuss bugs in Pectra Devnet 5 and outline plans to upgrade the Pectra mainnet, targeting activation on March 11, 2025.
According to galaxy.com, on January 23, 2025, Ethereum developers convened via Zoom for All Core Developers Consensus (ACDC) call #149, chaired by Ethereum Foundation researcher Alex Stokes. The bi-weekly meetings aim to coordinate changes to Ethereum’s consensus layer, known as the Beacon Chain.
Spectra Devnet 5 & 6
Developers addressed bugs in Pectra Devnet 5, including a gas estimation issue that led to a three-way chain split, as explained by EF DevOps engineer Rafael Matias. The network is not complete, so the Nethermind, Reth, Erigo, and Besu client teams will have to work on fixes. The latest hive test on Devnet 5 failed and requires further investigation.
In response, the developers agreed to release Devnet 6 before upgrading the public testnet. Matias emphasized the need for bug fixing and successful hive testing before proceeding. Stokes mentioned pending changes to EIP 7702 on GitHub, and Geth developer ‘Lightclient’ has been tasked with finalizing them. Pectra’s new CL specification release, version 1.5.0-beta.1, is mentioned, but does not change significantly from previous releases.
Pectra public testnet and mainnet fork timing
Developers have proposed a schedule for Ethereum’s public testnet and mainnet upgrades. EF Protocol Support Director Tim Beiko proposed mainnet activation on March 11, 2025, less than a year after the Dencun upgrade. This schedule requires the public testnets Sepalia and Holesky to be upgraded by February 19th and 24th, respectively, and ideally earlier to allow adequate preparation time.
Despite the tentative schedule, the developers have yet to fix the bugs in Devnet 5 or release Devnet 6. Beiko plans to propose specific block numbers for discussion at the next ACD meeting and emphasized the importance of a near-final client release by February 3, 2025.
shipDAS
Developer ‘Manu’ has shared an update to PeerDAS, a major expansion improvement planned for the Fusaka upgrade following Pectra. According to EF Research Ansgar Dietrichs, PeerDAS aims to improve Ethereum’s ability to process blob transactions, potentially increasing throughput by eight times. However, Prysm developer Terence Tsao warned that increasing blob throughput may be difficult and may require further research and testing.
Fusaka Fork Planning Process
Beiko requested feedback on Ethereum’s fork planning process, reflecting the coordination challenges Pectra faces. He proposed an Ethereum Magicians forum to discuss governance improvements for future upgrades and encourage community participation. Stokes reminded the client team of future Pectra test calls with less than 100 days left before the client’s self-imposed deadline to remove pre-merge records.
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