The Sepolia testnet has successfully implemented the Pectra upgrade, marking a major milestone in Ethereum’s roadmap.

This upgrade merges the previously planned Prague and Electra updates into a comprehensive release aimed at improving network usability, staking, scalability, and infrastructure.

Pectra Upgrade Launches with Key Features

As BeInCrypto reported, the Pectra Upgrade’s debut on the Sepoila testnet is among this week’s top crypto news. Terrence, an Ethereum community member, first shared the news of Sepolia upgrading to Pectra.

“Sepolia has successfully upgraded to Pectra,” he stated.

This update introduces several critical improvements, including Account Abstraction (EIP-7702), which allows wallets to function more like smart contracts. With account abstraction, users can pay transaction fees with assets like USDC instead of solely relying on ETH. This is a major win for usability and user experience.

The Pectra Upgrade also introduces Staking Enhancements (EIP-7251), with the validator staking limit increasing from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH. This means easier staking management for large holders. However, critics argue this could negatively impact decentralization by favoring wealthier participants.

“Larger holders benefit from simplified staking management, and optimized margins, but will negatively impact decentralization. Let’s see how this impacts validator count in the coming weeks,” Yogi, a popular user on X, observed.

The update also introduces scalability and Layer-2 (L2) boost under Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) 7691 and 7623. For users, this means optimized data management to improve network efficiency, lower transaction fees, and push greater adoption of L2 scaling solutions.

It also upgrades development and infrastructure by introducing and streamlining smart contract deployment, cryptographic efficiency (EIP-2537), and new consensus mechanisms (EIP-7549). Additional features include PeerDAS and Verkle Treesto, which support Ethereum’s long-term scalability.

With the Pectra Upgrade, validators can reinvest their staking rewards automatically, potentially increasing long-term returns.

Despite these enhancement features, some users have raised issues about the custom deposit contract affecting transaction inclusion. 

“We’re investigating an issue caused by the custom deposit contract on Sepolia. This has caused some EL clients to have issues including transactions in blocks,” Ethereum developer Tim Beiko said.

A Phased Rollout After the Mekong Preview

These testnet deployments ensure stability before the mainnet implementation in April, with Pectra poised to be a game-changer for Ethereum’s ecosystem.

Notably, the Pectra upgrade is planned in two phases, with part of Phase 1 now live on Sepolia. The decision to split the upgrade into two stages follows concerns about implementing all changes simultaneously. The second phase is expected in 2026, bringing further refinements and enhancements.

Before Sepolia’s successful upgrade, Ethereum developers launched the Mekong testnet in November 2023 as a preview environment. Mekong allowed developers to test Pectra’s key features in a controlled setting, and the diligence was in pursuit of a smoother transition for Ethereum’s broader network.

Therefore, the March 5 activation of Pectra on Sepolia signals that the upgrade is progressing on schedule.

“EF Developer Operations Engineer Parithosh Jayanthi shared an update on the status of Pectra Devnet 6. He affirmed that the devnet is “doing well” and the validator participation rate is near perfect,” read a recent research report, citing Parithosh Jayanthi, Ethereum Foundation’s Developer Operations Engineer.

The next major milestone is expected in April, when the Pectra upgrade will be deployed on Goerli, Ethereum’s other testnet. After Pectra, Ethereum’s next major upgrade, Fusaka, is already in the pipeline.

While details remain scarce, Fusaka is expected to refine Ethereum’s scalability and efficiency further, continuing the network’s evolution toward greater usability and adoption.

BeInCrypto data shows ETH was trading for $2,217 as of this writing, up by almost 6% since Wednesday’s session opened.