The Ethereum Pectra (short for “Prague-Electra”) update ended up live on Mainnet. This guide will briefly explain why it is so important for Ethereum, why it is a “first upgrade” and how it affects Ethereum (ETH) prices.
We will also observe Fusaka’s agenda, the next hotly expected Ethereum (ETH) upgrade expected to be activated in the second half of 2025.
Ethereum Pectra upgrades will be live at Mainnet: Highlights
After months of stress testing, the Ethereum Pectra upgrade, activated in May 2025, is set up to make the largest smart contract platform a better place for developers and users.
- The Ethereum Pectra (Prague-Electra) was an upgrade to the Ethereum (ETH) network, which occurred in the form of hard forks across the blockchain.
- Pectra mainnet activation occurred on May 7, 2025, after several months of testing on general and specific testnets.
- Ethereum Pectra implements 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals or EIPs.
- Most important of them are increasing the blob space to allow for even more L2 scaling, expanding the maximum stained ETH balance per ballot for more flexible scaling, optimizing CallData costs.
- The introduction of “smart accounts,” that is, blurring the line between Ethereum-on-chain wallets and smart contracts, is the most discussed update related to Pectra.
Activating the Pectra upgrade had no direct impact on Ethereum (ETH) prices, but if successful, it can reconstruct the etheric reliability of investors. It also gives Ethereum (ETH) the opportunity to try Solana (SOL) again as the go-to chain for normal trading.
What is Ethereum?
Ethereum is a decentralized network (blockchain) that was first introduced on the mainnet on July 30, 2015. It was created by Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin and a team that includes Charles Hoskinson, Gavin Wood and Joseph Lubin.
Previous generation blockchains such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Dogecoin lacked such capabilities, so Ethereum (ETH) guaranteed the status of the “world computer”; Ethereum Virtual Machine is the global distributed computing power for a wide range of distributed applications.
Ethereum has played a pivotal role in blockchain evolving beyond cryptocurrency, paving the major vertical paths like Defi, NFTS and DAO, and has remained at the heart of Web3’s innovation. It was also the first mainstream blockchain, moving from Proof of Workplace (POW) to Proof Stake (POS) consensus. In September 2022, mining was replaced by equestrianism as a technology and economic basis for security and transaction verification.
In the 2022-2025 cryptocurrency cycle, Ethereum (ETH) performs very poorly against its biggest competitor, Bitcoin (BTC), compared to its crypto market benchmark. The ETH/BTC ratio has been bumped into many criticisms from the Ethereum (ETH) community over and over again.
What is an Ethereum upgrade?
Ethereum upgrades are regular (1 to 2) network-wide extensions implemented via hard forks, and are impossible changes backwards where all nodes need to be updated.
These upgrades are configured to improve security, scalability and performance of the Ethereum blockchain, and often include major protocol changes and new features. Until all upgrades are published, you will need to pass extensive discussion, testing stages, activations on all major Ethereum (ETH) testnets, and activations on the mainnets.
Previously, Ethereum (ETH) upgrades were monolithic, but separate hard fork programs were introduced for the consensus layer and validation layer.
Notable upgrades include Istanbul (2019), which introduced the EIP 1559, Istanbul for gas efficiency (2019), Berlin for EVM improvements (2021), and London (2021) (see below – see below) – Dynamic pricing models and regular ETH burning events), and Dencun (regular ETH burning events in 2024) Layer-2 blockchains like Arbitrum and Optimism.
Each upgrade reflects the continuous evolution of Ethereum against a more scalable, feature-rich and powerful ecosystem, while still remaining decentralized and developer-friendly.
What is EIP?
Derived from similar equipment from Web2, EIPS or Ethereum Improvement Proposals are design proposals that propose changes to the Ethereum protocol, standards, or processes.
Each EIP goes through a phase that is drafted, reviewed, final, and sometimes stagnated or withdrawn. They are discussed and refined online by the Ethereum community, especially within forums such as Ethereum Magicians and Official Platforms. ethereum.org. Mostly veteran Ethereum (ETH) developers, engineers and enthusiasts contribute to these debates.
Some notable examples include the ERC-20 token standard (all dependent tokens for all Ethereum), the EIP-20, which introduces the EIP 721, and the EIP 1155. All hard forks (upgrades) technically represent the combination of EIPs submitted for implementation across the network.
Ethereum Pectra: What you need to know
Ethereum Pektra is the most ambitious upgrade in post-registration Ethereum history, designed to develop the second largest blockchain that coincides with the deepest trends in the blockchain segment.
Ethereum Pectra: Date
Like all Ethereum (ETH) upgrades across the network, Ethereum Pectra underwent a polyphase stress test before being submitted for mainnet activation.
- Phase 1. Pectra Devnet – January 2025. Special test networks for experiments using EIP-7702 and EIP-7251 activation.
- Phase 2. Holesky TestNet – February 24, 2025. The first Ethereum testnet to adopt Pectra. The first attempt failed while the transaction finality was achieved only by March 10, 2025. The bug fix process involved alerts from the community.
- Phase 3. Sepolia TestNet – March 5, 2025. Pectra’s multiclient testing started successfully.
- Phase 4. Mainnet – May 7, 2025. Pectra was successfully implemented on the first attempt, with all nodes responding quickly.
Therefore, the entire process of revitalizing Pectra took over four months. This is regular for this type of upgrade.
Ethereum Pectra: Core EIP
Below is a list of 11 Ethereum improvement proposals that have shaped the Ethereum Pectra Upgrade agenda. Previously, the list of EIPs was even larger, but then the developers decided to drop some of them into the segment of the account’s abstraction. The most important ones are highlighted.
Therefore, most of the progress will affect the data logistics, economics and performance of Ethereum (ETH) and Layer 2 EVM blockchains running on it.
Ethereum Pectra: Motivation
The opportunity for ETH to enhance account abstraction, increase validator flexibility, and increase BLOB data space are three pillars of the motivations of Ethereum (ETH) developers to activate Pectra upgrades.
- and Advanced Account AbstractionOn-Chain Ethereum (ETH) wallets work exactly the same as smart contracts. For example, wallet owners can enable gas payments in cryptocurrency, such as ETH, automated transfer approvals.
- and More flexible and performance ETH stakingit makes economically reasonable for Valitters to increase their commitment to keeping Ethereum (ETH) blockchain secure and operational.
- and Increased blob sizeEthereum-based L2 can process more data, be more cost-effective and make DAPP faster.
So economic rationality, improved performance, and better data logistics have led developers to adopt Pectra in Ethereum (ETH).
ETH Prices and Ethereum Pectra Upgrade: Two Scenarios
First, it should be noted that Ethereum (ETH) upgrades do not directly affect ETH prices. Even the most fundamental changes, such as EIP 1559, appear only in the long term.
It is also highly likely that all accurate predictions about how Pectra upgrades will affect ETH prices should be treated that way. Traders, investors and honorable people should always be careful.
Ether Price: Bull
If successful, Ethereum Pekra could trigger three major catalysts in the long term of Ethereum (ETH) price. First, the rise in its radical blob data makes Ethereum (ETH) an even more attractive foundation for the L2 blockchain. This means constant activity and liquidity inflows.
Secondly, the ETH on-chain has more flexibility with the largest share changes per validator and other changes in the progress of validation.
In addition, the introduction of smart accounts is expected to make Ethereum (ETH) more attractive to new dapps such as defi, lstfi/lrtfi, and vertical AI agents.
Most importantly, the successful revitalization of such an ambitious upgrade is a good trigger for the general optimism of retail investors and institutions who are still pessimistic about Ethereum Spot ETFs. Cryptographers and investors will see once again that Ethereum (ETH) is still flexible and can adjust industry trends.
Ether Price: Bearish
There are only two bear catalysts that can be associated with the Ethereum Pectra upgrade. The first few days after activation or Pectra was unable to expand the L1 of Ethereum.
The first scenario is rooted in pre-upgrade concerns. Pectra has been the most difficult upgrade ever to be active. Both common testnet activations failed to achieve synchronization on the first attempt. Ethereum (ETH) developers were even forced to deploy specially designed testnets to properly experiment with upgrades.
In the final scenario, we amplify the fear that users support Ethereum’s L1 for many L2s and therefore are interested in working with related tokens such as ARB, OP, etc.
Bonus: Ethereum Fusaka upgrades your next postproctra
Fusaka (Fulu-osaka) upgrades are the upcoming hard forks of Ethereum (ETH), which is expected to activate its mainnet in the fourth quarter of 2025. Expanding the development of Pectra is intended to further enhance Ethereum scalability and developer experience.
At the time of printing, Fusaka plans to implement several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including EIP-7594 (Peerdas), which focuses on improving data availability for the rollup.
Also, previously, Ethereum (ETH) developers have fundamentally rewritten Smart Contract Bytecode and discussed Fusaka about the introduction of EVM Object Format (EOF) in order to increase security and efficiency. However, due to community concerns caused by its complexity and the possibility of delaying upgrades, EOF has been removed from Fusaka’s latest interim agenda.
Unlike Pectra, Fusaka is set up to improve performance, security and developer experience for Ethereum (ETH) and EVM. With Peerdas, Fusaka Post-Fusaka Ethereum also has more accessible and cost-optimized data structures for different types of sophisticated Dapps.
I’ll summarize
Activated on May 7, 2025, Ethereum Pectra is the largest and most ambitious Ethereum (ETH) network upgrade since it moved from proof of work to proof of stock in September 2022.
The most important update envisaged by EIP 7251, EIP 7691, and EIP 7702 – advance the performance of Ethereum (ETH) validators, dir=”ltr”>an increase the blob space for successful Ethereum (Eth) Pectra activation, is a big catalyst for the entire ecosystem and a potential price as a potential price.
