2 hours ago
1 ARTICLE AD
Ethereum’s Holesky testnet finally achieved finality two weeks after the Pectra upgrade went live.
The testnet developers have reported that the complications that delayed the process are now fully solved.
However, its sister testnet network, Sepolia, faced issues in achieving finality on the Petctra upgrade following an exploit on March 5. The issue is now resolved.
The Pectra upgrade, the biggest update on Ethereum since The Merge, went live on February 24 after being postponed earlier in the year. Now, one of the largest Ethereum testnets, Holesky, has achieved finality two weeks following the Pectra upgrade going live.
On March 10, at around 19.00 UTC, the Holesky testnet developers announced that the network achieved finality, where all transactions on Holesky are now immutable and irreversible. The feat was achieved on Epoch 119,090, with over two-thirds of the validators validating the network. The network now locks the transactions irreversibly within two epochs, or 13 minutes. According to the team, the upgrade had been absent since it launched due to a configuration bug in the client software, not the Pectra upgrade itself.
This is the first step towards Pectra upgrade being integrated onto the main Ethereum network, if successful on the testnet trials. Ethereum developers and the community use these trial updates to ensure that bugs are fixed before they go live. It’s all to avoid disrupting the main Ethereum blockchain in the process.
Speaking on the recent challenges of Holesky on reaching finality and when the mainnet launch date can be confirmed, Danyal Hanif, Ethereum Product Lead, P2P.org, an ETH staking service, stated:
“So right now, we presume a lot of the Ethereum Ecosystem is testing Pectra, primarily in Holesky, which has been facing issues that seem to be resolved as finality was achieved on 10th March. Given this, we are still waiting for an updated Mainnet release date with an expectation of mid-April.”
The Holesky development team worked on the configuration bug in the client software over the past two weeks. Developers are now stabilizing nodes and pruning old states to fully revive the testnet for Pectra testing.
Understanding the Pectra Upgrade
The Pectra upgrade aims to solve long-standing challenges on the Ethereum blockchain, such as high transaction fees, complexity in staking for new users and the maximum ETH lock-up for validators. The upgrade will make the blockchain faster, more scalable and easier to use for blockchain users, developers and validators.
First, the upgrade will allow users to pay for transactions and signatures with several cryptocurrencies other than ETH, including stablecoins. In addition, the Pectra upgrade also introduces validators with Max Effective Balances (MEB) of up to 2048 ETH. Currently, validators can stake up to a maximum of 32 ETH to secure the network and earn rewards in return, However, this is not very efficient as any amount staked higher than 32 ETH does not receive extra rewards. With the new upgrade, validators on P2P.org will be able to stake up to 2048 ETH, allowing them to reduce operational costs, which translates into higher profitability.
Speaking on how the Pectra upgrade will advance Ethereum users' capabilities, Alex Loktev, CRO at P2P.org, stated:
“The upgrade from 32 ETH staking cap to 2048 ETH will make staking more flexible and enhance the overall security of Ethereum. The move will see companies and individuals who manage large amounts of ETH choose to stake their tokens, which improves the speed in finalizing blocks and improves consensus efficiency.”
The upgrade was scheduled to be launched on the mainnet in early March 2025, but the community decided to push the date back. This was to give developers and the community more time to fully test the upgrade amid the recent technical failures during Holesky and Sepolia testnet deployments.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
