Pectra
Last Updated: November 3, 2026
Pectra is the Ethereum network upgrade that went live on mainnet on May 7, 2025, combining the Prague execution-layer and Electra consensus-layer changes. It gave ordinary Ethereum accounts smart wallet features through EIP-7702, raised the maximum stake per validator from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH and doubled the target number of data blobs per block for layer 2 networks.
What Pectra Changed
Pectra bundled 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs). The ones users and stakers notice most:
- EIP-7702 (smart accounts): lets a regular wallet address temporarily run smart contract code, enabling batched transactions, gas paid by a third party and other smart wallet features. It replaced EIP-3074, which was planned earlier and dropped.
- EIP-7251 (larger validators): raises the maximum effective balance of a validator from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH, so large stakers can run fewer validators.
- EIP-7691 (more blobs): raises the blob target from 3 to 6 and the maximum from 6 to 9 per block, lowering data costs for rollups.
- EIP-7002 and EIP-6110: let validators trigger exits from the execution layer and process deposits on chain much faster.
Why Pectra Matters
Pectra was the largest Ethereum upgrade since the 2024 Dencun upgrade and moved Ethereum closer to wallets that feel like ordinary apps. The same EIP-7702 feature also created new risks: phishing sites ask users to sign delegations that hand control of their address to a malicious contract, and Binance said the attacker in its October 29, 2026 hot wallet theft used an EIP-7702 delegation, according to Cointelegraph. Read any delegation request carefully before signing. Pectra was followed by the Fusaka upgrade in December 2025, which focused on data availability for layer 2 networks.