The Ethereum community has kicked off the new year with a focused approach, notably on the upcoming Pectra hard fork. In the first All Core Devs (ACD) call of the year, Ethereum’s core developers turned their attention towards this significant milestone.
Devnet 5, which was launched shortly before the ACD call, is likely to be the last network implemented before the transition to the testnet phase. This phase is tentatively set to commence in early February. System contracts for Pectra are currently under bytecode audits, with all changes promptly implemented. The findings from these audits will be presented in a follow-up meeting scheduled for two weeks time.
An important part of the discussion was centered around refining the gas refund mechanisms. Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 7623, which seeks to clarify the handling of gas refunds, was successfully merged. This addresses issues with the sequence of applying gas refunds and resolves a lingering concern for Pectra, ensuring the alignment of transaction gas costs with anticipated outcomes.
EIP-7840, which relates to future base fee updates in Ethereum, was another focal point. Marek Moraczyński from the Nethermind team offered insights on a proposal designed to streamline configuration and bring consistency to the Ethereum network, thereby improving its efficiency.
As Ethereum is actively pursuing any quick wins to aid with scaling, other enhancements are gradually gaining consensus among developers. One such improvement related to BLS precompilation gas costs under EIP-2537 seeks to align gas constants with previous assumptions. Radek Zagórowicz from the Ipsilon team suggested a simple fix to the specification, ensuring the constant aligns with their previous assumptions. This adjustment guarantees consistency in gas costs, contributing to Ethereum’s broader objective of efficient scalability.
A proposal was also discussed to keep the gas limits on the Holesky testnet elevated relative to the mainnet for testing purposes. For example, the gas limit would increase to 60 million after the Pectra fork and would continue to rise progressively with each subsequent fork.
Away from the daily development endeavours, the Ethereum community is rallying behind Danny Ryan as a potential leader for the Ethereum Foundation (EF). Ryan, who served a key role during Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake, has gained considerable respect within the community for his technical expertise and community-focused approach. Aya Miyaguchi, who has been serving as the EF’s executive director since 2018, has seen her leadership questioned, with a growing number of community members advocating for Ryan to take the helm.
Ryan, who left the EF in September, has expressed interest in the EF role. Despite the ongoing discussions, he emphasized his respect and admiration for Miyaguchi’s leadership, underlining the importance of maintaining a civil discourse within the community. As Ethereum continues to navigate its scaling challenges, the leadership and future direction of the EF will undoubtedly continue to be a focal point of these discussions.
