Ethereum Developers Delve into EIP 7742 and Pectra Upgrade at ACDC Call #144

On October 17, 2024, Ethereum developers convened over Zoom for the 144th edition of the All Core Developers Consensus (ACDC) call, as detailed by galaxy.com. Chaired by Ethereum Foundation Researcher Alex Stokes, the call focused on pivotal upgrades and proposals, notably the inclusion of EIP 7742 in the Pectra update.

Pectra Upgrade and EIP 7742 Discussion

Developers reached a consensus to incorporate EIP 7742 into the Pectra upgrade. This proposal aims to enable dynamic adjustments to the network's blob gas limits, potentially increasing both target and maximum capacities. However, concerns were raised about potential delays in activating other Pectra changes on the mainnet due to the inclusion of additional EIPs.

Further discussions centered around the testing of Pectra and PeerDAS devnets. Barnabas Busa, EF Developer Operations Engineer, indicated plans to terminate Pectra Devnet 3, pending unresolved issues with the Grandine client. The launch of Pectra Devnet 4 is contingent on successful local testing of execution layer clients.

Code Specification Updates

Key specifications for the Pectra upgrade were scrutinized, including proposals like Consensus Specs PR#3900 and PR#3767. Developers decided against integrating complex changes due to implementation hurdles. The importance of reviewing a bug fix for EIP 7251 was highlighted, alongside discussions on adding SSZ support to the builder API.

Teku developer Mikhail Kalinin pointed out potential breaking changes in Pectra that could affect application developers, urging careful consideration of these impacts.

PeerDAS and Scaling Solutions

The meeting also covered PeerDAS specifications, with a focus on rebasing them atop Pectra standards to enhance debugging and testing processes. Discussions on the new Engine API specification, "engine_getBlobsV1," revealed its potential to improve blob transaction handling, though it could increase node upload bandwidth.

Francis Li from Layer-2 rollup Base emphasized the need for increased blob capacity within Pectra, proposing specific gas target adjustments. This was linked to the broader implementation of EIP 7742, which would facilitate dynamic setting changes.

Upcoming EIPs and Conference Plans

New proposals, EIP 7782 and 7783, were debated as alternative scaling methods. Concerns were raised about the impact of these proposals on network bandwidth and ongoing research initiatives. The ACDC call on November 14 was canceled due to the upcoming Devcon conference in Bangkok, where many developers will be in attendance.

This ACDC call underscored the collaborative efforts of Ethereum developers to enhance network efficiency and scalability through strategic upgrades and proposals.