Ethereum Pectra Update Launches on May 7 with EIP-7702 and Validator Improvements

• Ethereum Pectra to Activate on May 7th
• EIP-7702 adds smart contracts to EOAs accounts
• Improvements benefit validators and Layer 2 solutions

The long-awaited Pectra update of the Ethereum network has a confirmed launch date of May 7, 2025, as announced by Tim Beiko, a member of the protocol's development team. Initially scheduled for April 30, the update was postponed due to instabilities in the test network.

Pectra incorporates 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) and represents one of the most relevant updates since Dencun, which took place in March 2024. The initiative aims to increase the scalability of the network, optimize the experience of validators and make the use of Ethereum more intuitive and secure for developers and users.

Among the highlights of the update is EIP-7702, which transforms traditional Ethereum accounts (EOAs) by enabling typical smart contract functionality. This makes it possible, for example, to create transaction batching, gas fee sponsorship, and even social recovery mechanisms, without the need to migrate assets. “EIP-7702 enables use cases such as transaction batching, gas sponsorship, or social recovery, all without migrating your assets,” said Beiko.

EIP-7702 allows standard Ethereum accounts (EOAs) to be extended with smart contract functionality, enabling use cases like transaction batching, gas sponsorship, or social recovery, all without migrating your assets 🔑 pic.twitter.com/zXs5iPLVfH

— timbeiko.eth (@TimBeiko) April 23, 2025

The update also significantly improves the framework for validators. It will now be possible to increase the effective balance to up to 2.048 ETH per validator, allowing for direct accumulation of staking rewards and reducing the need for multiple validators. This allows institutional validators to consolidate operations and reduce traffic on the P2P network.

Other key points include removing the pre-merge Proof-of-Work tracking distance, reducing deposit processing time, and enabling withdrawals directly through the execution layer. This results in a more streamlined flow for staking strategies.

The average number of blobs per block will be doubled from 3 to 6. This adjustment is essential to accelerate the scalability of Layer 2 (L2) solutions such as Arbitrum and Optimism. The measure was made possible by another proposal, EIP-7623, which limits extreme block sizes.

According to Beiko, the update is strategic to maintain Ethereum’s competitiveness and keep up with the growing demand for dApps. The community reacted positively on social media, although some users stressed the need for more public education on the topic.