Ethereum developers recently agreed to divide their upcoming Pectra hard fork into two distinct phases, a strategic move aimed at simplifying the upgrade process and minimizing potential risks such as bugs or missteps. Pectra, originally set to be Ethereum’s largest hard fork to date, had become increasingly complex, prompting concerns about shipping it all at once. A hard fork is a fundamental blockchain update that results in a split from the original chain, and Ethereum utilizes this method to implement significant software changes. By splitting Pectra into two separate upgrades, developers aim to streamline the process and focus on narrower, more manageable aspects of the update.

The decision to break the upgrade into two parts was not entirely unexpected. Developers had previously discussed the growing scope of Pectra and considered the idea of dividing it to avoid the risk of introducing bugs. The first part of Pectra is still on track for early 2025, in line with the developers’ earlier timelines. This first package will include eight Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), among them the well-known EIP-7702, designed to enhance wallet user experiences. Notably, this proposal was conceived by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in just 22 minutes.

The second part of the upgrade remains more flexible, with its final content to be determined over the next few months. Current ideas for the second package include updates to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and a feature called PeerDAS, which improves data availability sampling and is particularly advantageous for layer-2 blockchains.

Developers emphasized that the scope of these upgrades might evolve, and finalizing the details too early could be counterproductive. Ethereum Foundation researcher Alex Stokes, who led the decision-making call, acknowledged the challenge of avoiding adding new features but stressed the importance of keeping the initial scope narrow to ensure the second phase can be deployed quickly.

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