Ethereum’s ‘Pectra’ network upgrade goes live: What to expect

Ethereum — the network that unleashed smart contracts on the world — moves on to the next chapter with today’s Pectra upgrade, but what does it mean?

Pectra went live on the Ethereum mainnet at the start of epoch 364032, May 7, 2025, at about 10:00 am UTC. The three main Ethereum improvement proposals (EIPs) included are EIP-7702, EIP-7251 and EIP-7691.

EIP-7702 allows externally owned accounts to act as smart contracts and cover gas expenses (transaction fees) and payments in tokens that are not Ether (ETH). EIP-7251 increases the validator staking limit from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH, which makes operations for large stakers easier and simpler.

Finally, EIP-7691 increases the number of data blobs per block, which allows for better layer-2 scalability and potentially significantly reduces transaction fees. Sergej Kunz, co-founder of Ethereum decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator 1inch, said Pectra “introduces ‘smart account’ functionality” at deeper protocol levels and “improves Ethereum’s scalability” through layer-2 solutions.

Related: Ethereum to simplify crosschain transactions with new token standards

Better account abstraction

0xAw, lead developer at Base Ethereum layer-2 DEX Alien.Base told Cointelegraph that EIP‑7702 “is a potentially great addition for Ethereum.” He said that account abstraction has so far been unable to gain traction due to the need to switch wallets.

The positives of adopting such a solution include “getting rid of approval flows, not having to sign each transaction, segregated permissions and actions, and automations on behalf of the user.” 0xAw added that, following the update, developers will have an easier time implementing the features.

While account abstraction “won’t magically result in mass adoption,” it still “does remove a significant barrier to entry for new people.” He added:

“It enables a Web2-like UX by hiding many of the underlying scaffolding from users.”

1inch’s Kunz said the update will pave “the way for native gasless transactions and simplified user flows.” Ivo Georgiev, founder and CEO of self-custodial smart wallet Ambire, told Cointelegraph that “there will be no more infinite ERC-20 approvals, and users won’t need native currency like ETH to pay transaction gas fees.” He added:

“Following this, the UX will be reworked completely, with permissions/delegations systems that let wallets give more limited abilities to apps, thus increasing…