Ethereum developers have postponed the Pectra upgrade, initially scheduled to enhance Ethereum wallets, due to complications encountered in previous testnets. The upgrade is now expected no earlier than late April following the decision to introduce a third testnet, named Hoodi. This decision was made after the first two testnets, Holesky and Sepolia, were plagued by synchronization bugs.
Scheduled to launch on March 17, Hoodi aims to replicate the mainnet experience closely. The Pectra upgrade for Hoodi is set to activate on March 26. Should Hoodi function without significant issues, developers can establish a mainnet launch date for Pectra as soon as 30 days after Hoodi’s activation, potentially making Pectra live by April 25.
Pectra bundles over 10 Ethereum Improvement Proposals to elevate Ethereum wallet functionality and user experience. It also plans to enhance scaling by doubling the data availability blob count from three to six. Initially intended for a late 2024 mainnet release, Pectra faced delays due to unresolved client readiness issues and testnet bugs.
Christine Kim, Galaxy Digital’s vice president of research, noted that Hoodi would feature a validator set mimicking the mainnet’s operation, distributing upwards of 20 million test staked-Ether across various client teams and staking operators. Despite the focus on Hoodi, some aspects of Pectra will continue to be tested on Holesky and Sepolia.
The decision for the third testnet comes as Ethereum’s core developers agreed on faster deployment of future protocol updates, aiming to maintain the blockchain’s competitive edge.
