Zero gas fees? What surprises will the Ethereum Pectra upgrade bring?

By Jason Nelson

Compilation: Vernacular blockchain

Ethereum's Pectra upgrade, set to launch in March 2025, merges the originally planned separate Prague and Electra upgrades to allow for better integration and enhanced scalability, efficiency, and availability. The following is the main text:

What is an Ethereum Pectra upgrade?

The Ethereum Pectra upgrade enhances the scalability, efficiency, and staking flexibility of the network. Pectra expands the storage capacity of the Layer-2( solution while reducing expenses.

One of the most user-friendly improvements to Pectra is the flexible Gas payment. In Ethereum, "Gas" refers to transaction fees that compensate validators for maintaining the security of the network. Through account abstraction, Pectra allows users to pay these fees as USDC) using ERC-20Token(, and is no longer limited to ETH. Account abstraction simplifies Ethereum transactions by making wallets function more like smart contracts, giving users more control over transaction execution.

The Pectra upgrade also introduces PeerDataAvailabilitySampling)PeerDAS, the Peer-to-Peer Data Availability Sampling (. PeerDAS improves Ethereum's scalability and makes the network more efficient by allowing nodes to validate data without fully storing transaction data.

Another improvement is VerkleTrees, a new data structure that combines Vector Promise )VectorCommitments( and MerkleTrees, providing Ethereum with a more efficient data storage upgrade. VerkleTrees optimizes information storage and verification, significantly reducing the amount of data that validators need to keep, while allowing fast and secure access to network information.

) When will the Ethereum Pectra upgrade take place?

The Ethereum Pectra upgrade is expected to take place in mid-March 2025 and will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will introduce key improvements, such as increasing the Layer 2 Blob capacity from 3 to 6 to reduce congestion and fees, while enabling account abstraction to allow gas fees to be paid using stablecoins such as DAI and USDC.

The second phase, which is expected to be implemented in late 2025 or early 2026, will enable advanced optimizations, including PeerDAS and VerkleTrees, to improve data storage and network efficiency.

The last major Ethereum upgrade, Dencun, took place on March 13, 2024. It introduces Proto-Danksharding, which reduces the transaction costs of Layer 2 blockchains by using ephemeral data called "binary large objects" ###Blobs(. These blobs eliminate the need to rely on persistent on-chain storage, reducing network congestion, improving scalability, and laying the groundwork for upgrades such as Pectra.

) How does the Pectra upgrade work?

Key features of Pectra include:

Account Abstraction: This feature supports paying gas fees using multiple Token### such as USDC, DAI(, and allows third-party fee sponsorship.

Smart Contract Optimization )EIP-7692(: Improve the efficiency of the EVM )EVM(.

Validator Upgrade: EIP-7002: Enables flexible staking withdrawals.

EIP-7251: Increased validator staking limit from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH.

Data Storage Enhancements: VerkleTrees: Reduces storage requirements and improves transaction processing.

PeerDAS: Enhance Layer 2 scalability and reduce network congestion.

The Pectra upgrade introduces several Ethereum Improvement Proposal )EIPs( to enhance wallet usability, staking, and scalability.

EIP-7702: Enables externally owned accounts )EOAs( temporarily operate as smart contracts, simplifying transactions and replacing the now-deprecated EIP-3074.

EIP-7251: Increase the maximum stake per validator from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH to reduce network congestion.

EIP-7002: Improved validator exit process to improve efficiency for staking service providers.

EIP-7742: Enhances Layer 2 scalability by doubling transaction throughput, increasing blob capacity, and reducing fees.

EIP-2537: Introduced cryptographic efficiency improvements.

EIP-2935: Provides a mechanism for storing historical block hashes on-chain.

EIP-6110: Simplify the validator deposit process.

How does the Pectra upgrade affect users?

The Pectra upgrade is expected to benefit Ethereum users in a number of ways, including transaction batch processing, new recovery options, and new wallet types.

Once the Pectra upgrade goes live, Ethereum users may see lower or even zero gas fees, as third-party services and decentralized applications )dApps( will have the option to sponsor transaction fees, potentially eliminating transaction fees altogether in some cases.

Pectra has also introduced new wallet features to improve the usability and accessibility of Ethereum, including:

Batch processing of transactions: Allows multiple transactions to be bundled into one, reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

Social recovery: Provide a safety net for lost private keys and help recover wallet access through trusted contacts.

Native multisig wallets: Enhance security by requiring multiple approvals before a transaction can be executed, keeping funds safe from unauthorized access.

Potential Challenges of Pectra Upgrades

Ethereum developers expect a smooth launch of Pectra, but key risks remain. According to a report published by Obol and Liquid Collective in June 2024, client diversity is an issue because bugs in mainstream clients can destabilize the network. Operator centralization may also increase the risk of penalties due to the concentration of staking on a small number of entities. Reliance on cloud services such as AWS and Hetzner also poses the risk of downtime and security breaches, impacting validator uptime and cyber resilience.

Another challenge is that Pectra's upgraded wallet validation changes could expose older protocols that weren't updated in a timely manner to vulnerabilities. At the same time, increasing staking limits could encourage centralization, concentrate power in the hands of larger players, and attract regulatory scrutiny. The slow adoption of distributed validator technology ) which mitigates single points of failure and reduces the risk of centralized control ( can weaken network resilience.

Initial Testnet Issues

These challenges became apparent in February 2025, when the Pectra upgrade was activated on Ethereum's Holesky testnet, but failed to achieve finality ) where transactions were confirmed and permanently recorded on the blockchain ( state. While this is a setback, testnets "exist to find problems," said Georgios Konstantopoulos, general partner and CTO of crypto investment firm Paradigm.

Ethereum developers chose to postpone the Pectra release in order to test the upgrade on the "shadow fork" of the Holesky testnet, a temporary copy that allowed testing to continue, while waiting for the Holesky testnet to return to finality – which was finally achieved on March 10, more than two weeks later than the first activation.

This isn't the first time that an Ethereum upgrade has failed to achieve finality on the testnet; In March 2024, the Dencun upgrade ran into a similar issue when it went live on the Goerli testnet.

The next phase of preparation will be the launch of a testnet specifically designed for the Pectra upgrade, codenamed Hoodi, on March 17. If all goes well, the developers expect Pectra to go live on mainnet on April 25.

) Ethereum's future after Pectra

The Pectra upgrade is an important step in Ethereum's roadmap, aligned with its long-term vision of scalability, security, and decentralization. As part of Ethereum's transition to a more efficient network, Pectra lays the groundwork for future updates.

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In January 2025, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin responded to concerns about the ETH price and the impact of Layer 2 scaling solutions on the network's economics. Buterin emphasized that the Layer 2 network needs to support the value of ETH by burning a portion of the fees or staking them for community benefit.

"We should think explicitly about the economics of ETH," Buterin wrote. "We need to ensure that ETH continues to grow in value even in a layer-2 dominated world, preferably by addressing multiple modes of value accumulation."

Buterin also called for standardizing cross-chain functionality, enhancing interoperability, and prioritizing security to prevent censorship on layer 2 chains. He likened the importance of this moment to a "wartime mode," underscoring his determination to face these challenges head-on and move Ethereum forward.

) Summary

The Pectra upgrade is another major update for Ethereum since its "Merge" in 2022 and is scheduled to go live in March 2025. It dramatically improves network performance and user experience through technologies such as account abstraction, Verkle Trees, and more, while introducing flexible gas payments and higher staking limits. However, upgrades also face challenges such as client diversity and the risk of centralization. This article will provide an in-depth analysis of the technical highlights and potential issues of the Pectra upgrade, and take you through the key steps in the future development of Ethereum.