With Pectra, EIP-7702 will be implemented, which will optimize account abstraction.
Validators would no longer be limited to staking 32 ethers (ETH) per node.
The Pectra update, which will be the next hard fork of Ethereum, will be launched on the main network after completing its implementations on the Sepolia and Holesky testnets, scheduled for February. It will be in March when Pectra finally hits the mainnet.
As defined last week in the developers meeting of Ethereum, for February 12 and 19, the Sepolia and Holesky networksrespectively they will be receiving the hard fork. Once the implementation is reviewed, we will announce what day in March it will be launched in the mainnet.
Originally, as reported by CriptoNoticias, the Pectra update was planned for hit Ethereum mainnet on December 31, 2024. However, due to lack of some evidence, it was decided to postpone the date.
Another decision that was made regarding the implementation, last September, It was the division into two hard forksthis due to the number of changes that were originally intended to be implemented, qualifying it as ambitious. At the moment there is no known date for the arrival of the second package.
Among the most anticipated changes, in addition to security and usability improvements, is EIP-7702, which improves account abstraction, and EIP-7251, which will increase the maximum ETH capacity a validator can staketaking it from 32 to 2048 ETH.
What is account abstraction?
To use the Ethereum network, there are two types of accounts: Externally owned accounts and smart contract accounts.
A Externally owned account is managed by a single private keywith which transactions are signed. In this type of account, the payment of commissions is debited from the balance that the account has.
Smart contract accounts, instead of being managed by private keys, These are controlled either by other contracts or addresses. An account of this type can respond to multiple accounts.
The implementation of EIP-7151 aims to eliminate this distinction between accounts. That is, all accounts will work under the smart contract account model. This would unify account usage functionality, as an individual account would have the same capabilities as a contract account.
As CriptoNoticias has reported, Vitalik Buterin himself, creator of Ethereum, since 2022, has been talking about the benefits of this type of accounts. Basically it would be seeing wallets without private keys, controlled by a smart contract.
If implemented successfully, it is possible to begin to see a wallet that do not offer a recovery system through seed phrasesbut even by email, since the smart contract will be in charge of performing the backup in a decentralized way.
The abstraction of accounts also brings benefits in the management of gas (commissions) since financing for the payment of commissions from third parties can be allowed.