The highly expected Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade was successfully launched on the Sepolia testnet today, March 5, 2025, according to data reported by crypto analyst Crypto Dep.
Pectra launched on Sepolia
Today, Ethereum developers announced that they successfully deployed the Pectra upgrade on the Sepolia testnet. This is the second test phase after the first one on the Holesky testnet failed.
On Feb.24, the Pectra upgrade went live on the Holesky testnet but failed to finalize. The Holesky activation faced setbacks when inappropriate deposit contract addresses in execution clients caused chain splits and delayed completion.
This may imply that Ether developers will postpone the deployment of Pectra Upgrade on Ethereum’s Mainnet, which is reportedly slated for early April. They will need to look into the challenges that obstructed the activation of the upgrade on the Holesky testnet and resolve them.
It will take more than 18 days for the Holesky testnet to complete, as Ether developers still investigate challenges associated with “validator balance drains” and “correlation penalties”.
Why Ethereum Pectra upgrade?
The Pectra upgrade seeks to make Ethereum more scalable, rapid, and easier to utilize, both for blockchain developers and ordinary users. The upgrade went through two testnet phases (as highlighted above) to test its viability.
The Pectra update is primed to be one of the most important upgrades to the Ethereum blockchain in recent years. Ether has been regularly advancing its network since its establishment. Most recent major improvements include “the Merge” (which transformed ETH into the proof-of-stake) in 2022 and the “Cancun” update in 2024.
Despite such improvements, ETH still encounters setbacks, particularly concerning scalability, transaction costs, and interface complexity to new customers. The Pectra update aims to resolve these challenges.
The Pectra update is designed to introduce the following features:
- Leverage a notion known as account abstraction to improve user experience.
- Lower transaction fees and make Ethereum a user-friendly platform for beginners.
- Benefit developers by decreasing the complication of deploying smart contracts.
- Create flexible staking withdrawals and expand the stake limits from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH. This change will be more beneficial and flexible, especially for people or firms who manage huge amounts of ETH.
- And many others.
