Ethereum is about to迎来重要里程碑：Prague/Electra升级

Ethereum is set to launch the Prague/Electra upgrade in the first quarter of 2025, also known as the Prague upgrade or Pectra upgrade. This upgrade is not focused on a single goal, but covers multiple technical improvements and optimizations. Let's delve into the key aspects of this upgrade.

Core Points of the Pectra Upgrade

1. Significantly enhance scalability, including the introduction of sharding technology and optimization of Layer 2 solutions.

2. Enhance network security and stability through advanced cryptographic techniques and improvements to the Proof of Stake (PoS) protocol (.

3. Provide developers with new programming tools to simplify the smart contract deployment process.

4. Optimize user experience, reduce transaction fees, and provide a more intuitive wallet interface.

5. Continue to promote environmental protection measures, further reduce energy consumption, and improve sustainability.

Major Technical Improvements

) Verkle Trees and Statelessness

Introducing Verkle tree technology to achieve network statelessness. This will significantly reduce the computational burden on validation nodes, eliminating the need to locally store the complete network state.

Validator Light Client

Develop a lightweight validator client that allows users to validate the network on resource-constrained devices (such as tablets and smartphones) without needing to download the entire blockchain, thereby enhancing the level of decentralization.

Historical Data Optimization

Implement a data cleaning mechanism to remove historical data from full nodes after a specified time, further reducing computational requirements. This will reduce the storage space needed for running nodes from several TB to a level that can be accommodated by an ordinary computer's memory.

Consensus Layer Improvement

• Simplified the staking process to reduce the latency between the execution layer and the beacon chain.
• Optimize the validator network structure by increasing the maximum effective balance of a single validator (from 32 Ether to 2,048 Ether).
• Improve proof efficiency, reduce network load and node bandwidth requirements.

Execution Layer Upgrade

• Enhance the interoperability between the mainnet and the Beacon Chain, providing more functionalities for decentralized staking pools, DApps, and DAOs.
• Upgrade the Ethereum Virtual Machine ### EVM ( to improve the upgradability and execution efficiency of smart contracts.
• Consider introducing smart account features to achieve advanced functionalities such as batch transactions and fee sponsorship.

Impact of Pectra Upgrade on the Ecosystem

) Developer Perspective

• Improving scalability and reducing gas costs are beneficial for building more efficient and cost-effective DApps.
• Simplify the creation and deployment process of smart contracts to foster innovation.
• Enhance security and stability, improving the credibility of applications.
• Improve the overall development experience, including more comprehensive documentation and support.

User experience enhancement

1. The transaction processing speed has increased, and network congestion has decreased.
2. The transaction fees have significantly decreased, making Ethereum applications more popular.
3. The user interface has become more user-friendly, especially the wallet operations are more intuitive.

Environmental Impact

The Pectra upgrade will further enhance Ethereum's energy efficiency, addressing concerns about the environmental impact of blockchain and making it a more sustainable technological choice.

Looking to the Future

The Pectra upgrade marks Ethereum's move towards a more powerful, scalable, and user-friendly platform. By addressing the current challenges and introducing innovative features, this upgrade is expected to drive widespread adoption and continuous innovation in the decentralized ecosystem. As technology continues to evolve, Ethereum is reshaping the way people interact with blockchain technology, unlocking new possibilities for developers, users, and the entire community.