The 203rd Ethereum All Core Developers Execution (ACDE) meeting centered on the launch of Pectra Devnet 5, specification updates, and testnet upgrade plans—marking a critical phase in Ethereum's mainnet evolution and ecosystem collaboration.
1. Pectra Devnet 5 Launch
Developers activated Pectra Devnet 5 ahead of the meeting. EF Developer Ops Engineer Parithosh Jayanthi identified gas estimation issues during initial tests and planned to share logs via Ethereum’s R&D Discord for resolution.
2. Pectra Specification Updates
Five key updates were discussed:
2.1 EIP 7623: Calldata Cost Adjustment
- Clarified gas refund handling; merged into GitHub and tested in Devnet 5.
2.2 EIP 7840: Blob Scheduling
- Addressed base fee fraction calculations for execution clients. Changes approved for GitHub merge by January 20.
2.3 Blob Base Fee Calculation
- Defined excess gas computation post-fork. Consensus: Blob capacity increases activate one block after fork boundary, aligning calculations with new rules.
2.4 EIP 2537: BLS12-381 Precompile Costs
- Specified integer division for multiplication costs. EVM developer Paweł Bylica to update GitHub before next test meeting.
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2.5 EIP 7702: Code Introspection
- Proposed delegate_address checks for EOAs to enable secure gas sponsoring. Lightclient endorsed the update, noting ease of implementation. Decision deferred to January 20.
3. Pectra System Contracts Audit
EF Security Researcher Fredrik Svantes confirmed audit completion with no critical issues. Reports will be shared on GitHub, with a deep-dive planned for the next ACDE.
4. Testnet Upgrade Timeline
Proposed by Tim Beiko:
- Sepolia Fork: Week of February 12
- Holesky Fork: Week of February 19
- Mainnet Target: Early-to-mid March (3–5 weeks post-Holesky).
5. Holesky Gas Limit Adjustment
Sophia Gold advocated raising Holesky’s default gas limit to 36m, ensuring it exceeds mainnet for robust testing. Client teams confirmed compliance.
6. RPC Standardization
Geth’s Felix Lange expressed frustration over lack of feedback on JSON-RPC standardization. A dedicated workshop was proposed to define scope and stakeholders.
7. Node Hardware Requirements
EF researcher Kevaundray Wedderburn sought feedback on minimum specs for nodes. Discussion emphasized distinguishing validator vs. full-node needs.
FAQ
Q: When is Pectra’s mainnet launch?
A: Tentatively March 2025, pending testnet success.
Q: What’s new in EIP 7702?
A: It enables EOAs to permanently set code, with optional delegate_address checks for security.
Q: Why adjust Holesky’s gas limit?
A: To stress-test higher limits before mainnet implementation.
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