Ethereum's Development Milestones: Pectra, Fusaka, and Glamsterdam

Ethereum's core development team continues to push forward with significant upgrades aimed at enhancing the platform's scalability and user experience. In the latest 'Checkpoint' update from the Ethereum Foundation, developers highlighted the successful implementation of the Pectra upgrade and provided insights into ongoing and future updates, Fusaka and Glamsterdam.

Pectra Implementation

The Pectra upgrade, which rolled out smoothly, has introduced several enhancements, including staking quality-of-life improvements and a significant unlock for wallet user experience. According to the Ethereum Foundation, these updates are now available for application layers to leverage, allowing staking and wallet providers to adopt new standards such as maxEB and support EIP-7702.

Fusaka Testing Progress

The upcoming Fusaka upgrade is focused on enabling PeerDAS, a critical scaling feature. Testing for Fusaka has been ongoing, with the seventh devnet recently completed. The first multi-feature Fusaka devnet was launched, and further testing is scheduled during the Berlin Blockchain Week. Developers are particularly testing the Blob Parameter Only (BPO) fork for dynamic blob adjustments, which is crucial for L2 scaling.

Additionally, gas limit testing is underway to ensure a 60 million gas limit is safe for Fusaka. This adjustment does not require a hard fork, allowing validators to make independent decisions, which could lead to higher default gas limits in client software.

Glamsterdam Planning

Looking ahead, Ethereum developers are preparing for the Glamsterdam upgrade slated for 2026. Initial discussions have begun, focusing on potential headlining features like ePBS and FOCIL. Proposals are being accepted until June 20, with further discussions and finalizations scheduled throughout the summer.

The timeline for Glamsterdam includes several stages for proposal discussions and decisions, ensuring a comprehensive and community-driven development process.

Additional Developments

History expiry has been introduced on the Sepolia testnet and is expected to be rolled out to the mainnet once sufficiently tested. This feature, initially user-configured, will eventually become part of default client software settings. Developers and users can track progress through the Eth R&D Discord channel.

Process changes are also being implemented to streamline upgrade testing discussions, now scheduled for Monday calls under the All Core Devs Testing (ACDT) banner. These adjustments aim to accelerate the upgrade process, with more changes anticipated during Berlin Blockchain Week.

Ethereum's development team remains committed to maintaining a lean approach for Fusaka, with the goal of releasing the upgrade in 2025. The ongoing process adjustments highlight the challenges of decentralized governance but also reflect a proactive approach to improving Ethereum's development cycle.