What Is The Ethereum Pectra Upgrade?

As the pioneering network for smart contracts, Ethereum continuously evolves to meet new challenges. The Pectra upgrade, which launched in May 2025, represents a significant leap forward in Ethereum’s roadmap, addressing key limitations while enhancing the network’s scalability, security, and user experience.

Pectra combined two previously planned upgrades, the Prague execution layer and Electra consensus layer updates, into a single comprehensive update including 11 total Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs). This made it the largest upgrade in the network’s history. After a challenging development journey that took over a year and a half, Pectra finally arrived to make Ethereum more accessible, efficient, and user-friendly while maintaining its security and high levels of decentralization.  

In this article, Ledger Academy breaks down everything you need to know about the Ethereum Pectra upgrade, the EIPs it contained, and what it all means for the Ethereum network and its users. 

The History of Ethereum Upgrades

Since launching in 2015, Ethereum has undergone approximately 20 major upgrades, each implementing proposals that address weaknesses and enhance capabilities. 

For example, the network’s high-profile Paris Upgrade in 2022, commonly known as ‘The Merge‘ marked a pivotal moment when Ethereum changed its consensus mechanism from proof-of-work to the more energy-efficient proof-of-stake. Then, in March 2024, the Dencun upgrade introduced blob transactions through EIP-4844, dramatically reducing fees on Layer-2 scaling solutions, which greatly stimulated growth in the layer-2 ecosystem. 

The Pectra upgrade followed, offering comprehensive improvements across both the execution and consensus layers, addressing longstanding limitations and unlocking new capabilities for users, developers, and validators alike.

When Did The Ethereum Pectra Upgrade Happen?

The Pectra upgrade officially went live in May 2025 starting with the improvements to validators. However, some of the user-facing changes take time to implement. For example, incorporating transaction batching and sponsored transactions relies on web3 apps and wallets implementing the changes, which could take some time. 

How did the Pectra upgrade change the Ethereum Network?

Better User Experience

Perhaps Pectra’s most user-facing improvement is the introduction of account abstraction via EIP-7702. This improvement allows Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) —the kinds of accounts used by most hardware and software wallets—to act as smart contracts, enabling features like transaction batching, gas sponsorship, periodic subscriptions and social recovery. With these use cases, the user experience of the Ethereum network has moved closer to the seamlessness of web2 applications, addressing some of the longstanding pain points associated with blockchain—particularly for new users.

Enhanced Scalability

The Pectra upgrade also significantly increased Ethereum’s transaction capacity. This is thanks to direct improvements, such as the blob throughput increase via EIP-7691, which allows more temporary data to be processed in transactions. This allows the network to process more transactions without being slowed down by storing unnecessary data on the blockchain forever.

Increased Validation Efficiency

Another key benefit of the Pectra upgrade is stake consolidation, meaning validators can stake any amount over 32ETH. Whereas previously, you’d require a separate validator for each 32ETH stake and be limited by multiples of 32ETH, after the upgrade, validators were able to stake any amount over 32ETH, removing the need to run multiple validators and making the staking process much more efficient. These changes freed up more liquidity for staking, as validators wouldn’t have to wait to have a multiple of 32 in Ether in order to stake more funds.

Lower Transaction Costs

By optimizing data availability for Layer-2 solutions, improving transaction bundling capabilities, and minimizing unnecessary data, Pectra also reduces user costs. 

Key Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) in the Pectra Upgrade

While all 11 of Pectra’s Ethereum Improvement Proposals contribute to Ethereum’s improvement, let’s focus on the most impactful changes you’ll actually notice as a user:

What is EIP-7702?

One of Pectra’s most transformative changes for users comes through EIP-7702, which bridges the gap between regular user accounts known as Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) and smart contract functionality. 

Specifically, this proposal enables EOAs to temporarily function like smart contracts during transactions, offering several user benefits:

• Transaction batching: Users can execute multiple operations (like approving and swapping tokens) within a single transaction, reducing fees and the steps necessary to complete a trade
• Gas sponsorship: Applications can pay transaction fees on behalf of users, removing the need for newcomers to acquire ETH before using dApps
• Alternative authentication: Support for modern security technologies like passkeys and biometric verification means you could potentially use fingerprint scanning or face recognition to authorize transactions in the future.
• Spending controls: Users can set limits on application spending and implement daily withdrawal caps, similar to how you might set a daily ATM withdrawal limit on your bank account.

The implementation includes careful safety measures, such as chain-specific delegations to prevent cross-chain exploits, authorizations that automatically invalidate after use, and built-in revocability so that the EOA owner always remains in control.

What is EIP-7251?

EIP-7251 raised the maximum effective balance for validators from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH.

With this enhancement, validators can now earn rewards on their entire stake up to 2,048 ETH, enabling true reward compounding without requiring multiple validator setups. This is particularly valuable for institutional and large-scale stakers who previously had to manage large stakes in fixed 32 ETH increments (imagine having to manage 64 separate accounts to stake 2,048 ETH!). 

This EIP gives them the ability to merge multiple validators, simplifying their staking process and reducing their hardware requirements. The network as a whole benefits from reduced load, as fewer validators mean fewer signatures to process and verify.

To balance the increased stake size, the proposal carefully adjusts slashing penalties to maintain appropriate risk levels. For validators using the new maximum effective balance, the initial slashing penalty changes from 1/32 to 1/4,096 of the effective balance.

Finally, EIP-7251 also gives validators the ability to top up their stake, meaning they can add 1, 2, or even 200ETH to their existing stake without having to go through the withdrawal process. 

What is EIP-7002? 

Previously, validator exits and withdrawals could only be triggered using a validator’s active signing key. However, with the implementation of EIP-7002, withdrawals can be initiated from the execution layer through withdrawal credentials, reducing trust requirements and adding flexibility for staking pools and delegated validators. It also allows validators to withdraw any amount of their principal stake as long as the remaining balance stays at a minimum of 32ETH, which previously would have required the validator to exit their validator completely.

This EIP, working in tandem with EIP-7251, gives validators the flexibility to “set and forget” their stake; withdrawing, topping up and accruing funds as and when they like—as long as their total stake remains over 32ETH.

What is EIP-6110?

This proposal eliminates an unnecessary delay from Ethereum’s proof-of-work days. Previously, validator deposits had to wait for 2,048 blocks (about 9 hours) before processing to account for potential chain reorganizations. With Ethereum’s move to proof-of-stake, this delay is no longer needed. EIP-6110 reduces this onboarding time to around 13 minutes, improving the staking experience.

What is EIP-7691

EIP-7691 doubled the the number of blobs per block, increasing data capacity for Layer-2 rollups. Previously, the target number for blobs was just 3, but now that total has risen to 6. This means rollups can post data to the mainnet more efficiently and at a lower cost, helping the Ethereum network scale by reducing potential congestion. It also stabilizes gas fees, since the network does not need to store data unnecessarily.

How Does The Ethereum Pectra Upgrade Impact Me? 

The Pectra upgrade does not impact your regular Ethereum transactions and transfers. However, it does unlock some new possibilities and use cases—particularly within the Ledger Ecosystem. 

For example, to mark the availability of the Ethereum Pectra upgrade, staking ETH with Figment, P2P and KILN via Ledger Wallet™ now lets you enjoy zero service fees on ETH Staking rewards until the end of 2025. That means you get to keep all your rewards to yourself!

Plus, EIP-7702 is now available for Ledger Flex™, Ledger Stax™, Ledger Nano™ Gen5, Ledger Nano X & Ledger Nano S Plus users. For more information on how to use EIP-7702 with your Ledger Signer, check out our comprehensive blog on Pectra to understand Ledger’s secure approach. 

Please be aware that Ledger Nano S signers are unable to update to version 1.17 of the ETH application, and therefore won’t be able to benefit from EIP-7702. However, you can still send ETH transactions and transfers using the existing version of the ETH application.

Ledger: Secure Self-Custody for The Ethereum Ecosystem

The Pectra upgrade represents a significant advancement in Ethereum’s evolution, addressing fundamental limitations while introducing new capabilities. By enhancing validator flexibility, expanding account functionality, and increasing data availability, Pectra has made Ethereum more accessible, efficient, and user-friendly.

As Ethereum continues to evolve with innovations like account abstraction and enhanced staking mechanisms, maintaining proper security becomes even more crucial. Fortunately, Ledger signers provide the perfect balance of security and accessibility when interacting with these new Ethereum features by keeping your private keys offline, providing clear transaction verification through secure screens, and providing a secure gateway to apps and services via Ledger Wallet™. 

So, are you ready to experience Ethereum’s latest innovations with peace of mind? Discover the expanding Ethereum ecosystem with confidence: whether you’re staking ETH, exploring DeFi applications, or simply sending transactions, Ledger gives you the confidence to participate fully in the next generation of Ethereum’s capabilities—always with security and self-custody.