Ethereum Developers Gear Up for Pectra Fork to Boost Scalability

October 18, 2024

Ethereum’s devs are cranking up the gears on the blockchain, prepping for the upcoming Pectra fork that’ll roll out a crucial Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-7742). The plan? Optimize blob-carrying transactions to turbocharge the network’s scalability. Galaxy Digital’s Christine Kim spilled the beans on X, fresh off an Ethereum “All Core Devs” meeting, giving us a glimpse into the future of this monster chain.

Blobs, if you’re out of the loop, are these mega-chunks of data that temporarily squeeze themselves into Ethereum transactions. They’re aiming to slice the costs for layer 2 transactions. But blobs are pushing the limits, according to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. He flagged that the current blob capacity was inching close to maxing out, which could totally trip up Ethereum’s scaling ambitions.

So, EIP-7742 is here to save the day by letting Ethereum’s consensus layer “dynamically” adjust blob gas targets and max values, as Kim explained. It’s like giving Ethereum a speed boost without needing to mess around with the gas limit or slot time.

Blob Limits Set for Change

On GitHub, developer Alex Stokes laid down the technical scoop. The new EIP will tweak blob parameters, letting them flex between targets and max values. Right now, blob counts are stuck at a fixed value, which is starting to feel a bit too rigid for Ethereum’s growing demands.

Pectra, the long-awaited upgrade, should drop either late this year or early 2025. And it’s not stopping there. Another upgrade, EIP-7623, is cooking, which could trim Ethereum’s block size from 2.7 megabytes to 1, making room for more blob action.

Layer 2 Steals the Show

Ethereum’s scalability plan isn’t just focused on blobs. The long-term goal is to handle 100,000 transactions per second, using its mainnet in tandem with layer 2 solutions. But here’s the kicker: Ethereum’s been losing ground in terms of revenue. Over the past four months, layer 2s have gobbled up 90% of the network’s earnings, leaving the Ethereum mainnet with a measly 10%, according to Matthew Sigel from VanEck.

This reversal has already forced VanEck to slash its Ether price prediction by 67%, dropping their 2030 target from $22,000 to $7,330.

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