Understanding Pectra: Ethereum’s Most Comprehensive Upgrade Yet
Unlike the Merge, which centred on the transition to Proof of Stake, and Dencun, which spotlighted blobspace for rollup scalability, Pectra is less about a single headline change and more about a coordinated set of improvements that touch every layer of the protocol—ushering in not just greater efficiency, but potentially a shift in Ethereum’s development philosophy toward automated protocol-level self-governance.
Through GoldRush, Covalent’s real-time data infrastructure, developers, researchers, and validators gain deep visibility into how Pectra’s protocol-level changes are playing out live onchain. From blob throughput and calldata trends to validator behavior and staking economics, GoldRush offers high-resolution insights into an increasingly modular Ethereum. As the network transitions to a more data-rich architecture, GoldRush helps translate complex, invisible changes into actionable metrics—making Ethereum’s evolution legible, accountable, and measurable.
Pectra smoothly went live on May 7, 2025 at epoch 364032, following earlier testnet turbulence that highlighted the complexity of multi-client coordination. It’s a dual upgrade, fusing the Prague (execution layer) and Electra (consensus layer) tracks into a single release. It introduces validator efficiency improvements (EIP-7251), ephemeral smart contract functionality for EOAs (EIP-7702), and an expansion of blob throughput for rollups (EIP-7691), along with several under-the-hood changes like EIP-7685’s new interface for smart contract-to-protocol interaction. Early reactions to key features, like increased blob throughput, account abstraction, and validator consolidation, have been largely positive, though concerns remain around decentralization and long-term scalability.
These upgrades support faster, cheaper transactions and pave the way for stateless light-clients for a future of a more integrated and possibly intelligent form of network coordination. They also show that the EF (Ethereum Foundation) is acting on feedback about the need for better communication. Perhaps most importantly, Pectra lays the groundwork for possibly a more responsive Ethereum—one where protocol participants like validators, restakers, and L2 (Layer 2) rollups will help shape network direction through smart-contract to protocol signalling and protocol-level blob parameter communications.
This guide breaks down each EIP, in descending order of impact and hype, using simple analogies and clear explanations.
EIP-7702: Set EOA account code
EIP-7251: Increase the MAX_EFFECTIVE_BALANCE
EIP-7691: Blob throughput increase
EIP-7002: Execution layer triggerable exits
EIP-6110: Supply validator deposits on chain
EIP-7685: General purpose execution layer requests
EIP-7549: Move committee index outside attestation
EIP-2537: Precompile for BLS12–381 curve operations
EIP-7840: Add blob schedule to EL config files
EIP-2935: Save historical block hashes in state
EIP-7623: Increase calldata cost
1. EIP-7702 — Set EOA Account Code
📄 EIP link
What it is:
It equips regular wallets with a temporary smart contract “superpower suit,” allowing EOAs (Externally Owned Accounts) to behave like smart contracts for the duration of a single transaction by assigning executable code to the account’s code field—just long enough to unlock advanced functionality like batch execution or gas sponsorship, without requiring a full wallet migration.
Why it matters:
This makes wallets more powerful, enabling things like batch transactions and gas sponsorship, without needing smart contract wallets.
2. EIP-7251 — Increase the MAX_EFFECTIVE_BALANCE
📄 EIP link
What it is:
Allows validators to pool staked ETH up to a maximum.
Why it matters:
This reduces reduces infrastructure costs for big validators like Lido. By allowing each validator to carry more stake there is a reduction of overall traffic, with an expected lower validator count. This streamlines coordination across the network.
3. EIP-7691 — Blob Throughput Increase
📄 EIP link
What it is:
The target number of blobs will be raised from 3 to 6 and the maximum number of blobs from 6 to 9. This effectively doubles the capacity of Ethereum’s data availability.
Why it matters:
This improves L2 performance by enabling more blobs (rollup data) per epoch which lowers blob fees and thus directly lowering transaction costs for users of Base for example.
4. EIP-7002 — Execution Layer Triggerable Exits
📄 EIP link
What it is:
Like setting an alarm clock that tells your staked ETH to exit automatically—triggered directly from the execution layer without manual intervention.
Why it matters:
This enables staking pools and restaking protocols to manage exits more flexibly and programmatically, enhancing automation, safety, and responsiveness in validator operations.
5. EIP-6110 — Supply Validator Deposits On Chain
📄 EIP link
What it is:
Ethereum’s version of a public sign-in sheet for new validators.
Why it matters:
Improves deposit visibility, onboarding speed, and security for new validators.
6. EIP-7685 — General Purpose Execution Layer Requests
📄 EIP link
What it is:
Adds a “suggestion box” that lets smart contracts to submit formal, programmable requests to the execution layer—bridging the gap between application logic and core protocol functions.
Why it matters:
Opens doors to smarter, more flexible interactions between the protocol and smart contracts brining a new layer of expressiveness for smart contracts. This possibly enables more intelligent coordination with the protocol itself—paving the way for automated validator management, governance signaling, and advanced restaking logic.
7. EIP-7549 — Move Committee Index Outside Attestation
📄 EIP link
What it is:
Streamlining validator messages like removing a redundant CC from an email.
Why it matters:
Improves efficiency at scale, especially for major staking operators. By simplifying attestation payloads, this change reduces overhead in consensus messaging.
8. EIP-2537 — Precompile for BLS12–381 Curve Operations
📄 EIP link
What it is:
A built-in cryptographic calculator for signature validation. Adds built-in support for efficient BLS12–381 curve operations used in signature schemes.
Why it matters:
Dramatically improves the speed and cost-efficiency of BLS signature verification—crucial for Ethereum consensus and a wide range of zero-knowledge proof applications.
9. EIP-7840 — Add Blob Schedule to EL Config Files
📄 EIP link
What it is:
Adds a roadmap and schedule for blob-related upgrades. Introducing a configurable blob schedule directly into execution layer config files—laying out when and how blob parameters like target and maximum counts will change over time.
Why it matters:
Gives node operators a heads-up to prepare for scaling updates with clear, forward-looking guidance on upcoming scaling adjustments, enabling smoother coordination and more predictable network upgrades.
10. EIP-2935 — Save Historical Block Hashes in State
📄 EIP link
What it is:
Gives Ethereum a “short-term memory” by storing the last 8,192 block hashes directly in state, making them easily accessible to contracts and clients.
Why it matters:
This is crucial for enabling stateless clients and improving developer ergonomics—this change simplifies how apps verify and fetch recent block data without requiring full node access or custom infrastructure.
11. EIP-7623 — Increase Calldata Cost
📄 EIP link
What it is:
Raising the postage price for extra-heavy Ethereum transactions by increasing gas fees per byte—making it inefficient and expensive data usage.
Why it matters:
Discourages bloated calldata and makes room for cleaner, scalable use of blobs by putting economic pressure on developers to adopt a blob-native architecture. Specifically, the gas cost will increase from:
4 gas to 10 gas per zero byte.
16 gas to 40 gas per non-zero byte.
Scaling, Communication & UX Today, Signalling Tomorrow
The Pectra upgrade is a turning point in how Ethereum scales, and potentially governs, and interacts with itself. With 11 EIPs delivered in one release, it delivers broad-spectrum improvements like empowering EOAs with smart-contract-like functionality (EIP-7702), increasing validator efficiency and automation (EIP-7251, EIP-7002), and dramatically enhancing rollup performance through higher blob throughput (EIP-7691).
Just as important, it introduces new interfaces for coordination (EIP-7685) and a more formalized way of managing upgrades and fee dynamics (EIP-7840). Potentially, this is a philosophical shift towards automated governance with deeper protocol-layer coordination in future forks.
For developers, Pectra opens up new design space from lightweight smart wallet interactions to smarter contracts that speak directly to the protocol. For validators and restakers, it’s an invitation to re-evaluate operational setups, capital allocation, and exit strategies in a more dynamic environment. In these increasingly dynamic times, the Covalent Network and GoldRush is primed to surface the onchain patterns to network participants, observers, and developers with responsive real-time data to participate in what may well define how Ethereum itself adapts.
