A new upgrade is set to debut by the end of the year, bringing potential highlights to Ethereum’s ecosystem. On March 13th, Ethereum successfully completed the “Dencun” upgrade, which included the improvement proposal “EIP-4844” aiming to reduce transaction fees and improve transaction speed on the Ethereum Layer 2 chain. Following the completion of this upgrade, Ethereum developers quickly turned their attention to planning the next upgrade, called “Pectra”.
Each Ethereum upgrade follows a naming convention: upgrades for the execution layer are named after cities, while upgrades for the consensus layer are named after constellations. The term “Pectra” is a combination of the words “Prague,” representing the execution layer, and “Electra,” representing the consensus layer, symbolizing the two upgrades for these layers.
The “Pectra” upgrade is scheduled to take place in late 2024 or early 2025. While the specific details of the upgrade have not been confirmed, recent Ethereum phone conferences mentioned that it is expected to include “EIP-3074,” which will bring additional features to cryptocurrency wallets and enhance user experience (UX).
So, what is “EIP-3074”? It is an Ethereum Improvement Proposal that aims to improve the user experience of wallets. In simple terms, it allows wallets to have smart contract-like functionalities without the need for additional contract deployment or manual user upgrades. This proposal enables users on the blockchain network to batch approve multiple transactions, pay transaction fees in different ERC20 tokens (Gas Fee), enhance security, and facilitate account recovery.
According to software engineer Laurence Day, the most useful feature of this proposal is the “sponsored transaction” functionality. It allows users to store assets in wallets without holding Ether and pay transaction fees through controlled wallet contracts. For online gamers, this functionality eliminates the need for individual transactions to be confirmed and fees to be paid, significantly improving game fluidity and providing a better gaming experience.
Additionally, the batch transaction feature in the proposal enhances efficiency for liquidity providers and traders while reducing participation costs.
However, despite the benefits, there are potential risks associated with “EIP-3074”. Users authorizing third parties to operate their personal accounts through signatures may be vulnerable to hacker attacks or abuse of permissions, resulting in the loss or damage of personal assets or information.
Anonymous developer 0xngmi claimed on the community platform X that a drawback of “EIP-3074” is the possibility of losing all tokens, NFTs, and other assets within an address due to a single incorrect signature.
Harrison Leggio, co-founder of Gaslite, stated on X, “People will always find a way to lose money,” adding, “such as providing private keys to trading bots.”
While the “Pectra” upgrade may be relatively minor compared to past upgrades that focused on blockchain efficiency and network security, it appears to prioritize user experience. It will be interesting to observe and anticipate the impact this upgrade will have on the future development of the Ethereum ecosystem.