Ethereum Developers Deliberate on Pectra Testing and History Expiry Strategies

Ethereum developers recently convened for the All Core Developers Consensus Call #153, chaired by Ethereum Foundation Researcher Alex Stokes. This biweekly meeting, held on March 20, 2025, focused on vital updates and strategies regarding Ethereum's consensus layer, often referred to as the Beacon Chain, according to galaxy.com.

Pectra Testing

The developers reconfirmed their plans for Pectra testing, a significant upgrade on Ethereum's new public testnet, Hoodi. The Pectra upgrade is set to activate on March 26 at epoch 2048. While some client teams like Lodestar, Besu, Nethermind, and Lighthouse have released updates for Hoodi, others such as Teku, Reth, and Geth are still in progress. A detailed post-mortem of past testnet incidents was also shared, urging developers to streamline incident response efforts.

History Expiry

Discussions on history expiry were prominent, particularly concerning the delays in Pectra's mainnet activation. The initial plan to remove pre-Merge history data by May 1 hinges on the activation of EIP 6110 in Pectra. Developers are considering delaying this deadline to ensure a smoother transition post-Pectra activation. Testing on the Sepolia testnet is underway to ensure thorough preparation before implementing changes on the mainnet.

PeerDAS and EIP-7688

Attention was also given to PeerDAS testing and the potential inclusion of EIP 7688 in the Fusaka upgrade. EIP 7688, which focuses on forward-compatible consensus data structures, is crucial for applications utilizing EIP 4788. This proposal aims to mitigate risks associated with Ethereum network-wide upgrades affecting applications like Lido and Rocketpool. Developers were urged to focus on implementing PeerDAS for Fusaka before integrating additional EIPs.

The meeting underscored the ongoing efforts to enhance Ethereum's functionality and resilience as the network evolves. Developers are keen on ensuring that upcoming upgrades like Pectra and Fusaka are meticulously tested and deployed, reflecting Ethereum's commitment to robust and scalable blockchain technology.