When did Pectra activate?

Pectra activated on **May 7th, 2025** at slot 11,649,024 on the Ethereum mainnet beacon chain. The upgrade is the combined "Prague" execution-layer fork plus "Electra" consensus-layer fork — hence Pectra.

How many EIPs did Pectra include?

Eleven. The five most user-visible ones are EIP-7691 (more blobs), EIP-7702 (smarter wallets / Set Code transactions), EIP-7251 (raised validator cap to 2,048 ETH), EIP-7002 (execution-layer-triggered exits and withdrawals), and EIP-6110 (deposit pipeline simplification). The other six are protocol-internal improvements. See growthepie's [Pectra tracker](/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade) for live adoption data on the user-facing EIPs.

What is EIP-7691 (more blobs)?

EIP-7691 **doubled Ethereum's blob capacity** — the blob target per block went from **3 to 6**, and the maximum from **6 to 9**. Blobs are how L2 rollups post their transaction data to L1 for data availability. Doubling the target lowers fees for the same volume of L2 transactions and gives the blob-fee market more headroom before it kicks in via EIP-1559-style price increases. Rollups had been operating at full blob capacity for months before Pectra; EIP-7691 immediately relieved that pressure.

How big was the impact on L2 fees?

Pectra immediately roughly halved blob fees for L2s by doubling the capacity. The full effect was indirect: cheaper blobs meant L2s could pass savings through to users, and in the weeks after Pectra most major L2s saw their per-transaction fees drop noticeably. The relationship is approximate — blob fees only escalate via EIP-1559 once blob usage exceeds the target, so the *amount* of fee relief depended on demand at each moment. Growthepie's [Pectra tracker](/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade) has the live blob count vs target chart.

What is EIP-7702 (smarter wallets)?

EIP-7702 introduces a new transaction type — **"Set Code" or Type 4** — that lets a regular Ethereum wallet (an EOA — externally-owned account) temporarily act as a smart contract account for one transaction. This unlocks features that previously required users to switch to a dedicated smart-contract wallet: **gas sponsorship** (someone else pays the fee), **paying gas in tokens other than ETH** (e.g. USDC), **transaction batching** (multiple actions in one user-signed transaction), and **session keys / delegation** (a dApp signs on the user's behalf within preset limits). EIP-7702 doesn't require users to change wallets — existing EOAs can opt in.

What is a "Set Code" or Type 4 transaction?

A new Ethereum transaction format introduced by EIP-7702 that carries an authorization list: signed instructions telling the protocol to temporarily install bytecode on the sender's EOA. While the transaction executes, the EOA behaves like a smart contract account; after the transaction completes the original code (none, since it's an EOA) is restored. The Pectra tracker chart on growthepie counts Type 4 transactions per chain — that's the simplest live adoption signal for EIP-7702.

Which apps benefit most from EIP-7702?

Wallets and dApps that want a "no-friction" UX without forcing users to switch to smart-contract wallets. Day-one beneficiaries include account-abstraction-aware wallets, dApps doing gas sponsorship for new-user onboarding, and DeFi protocols that previously needed two transactions (approve + action) and can now batch them. The growthepie [Pectra tracker](/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade) charts per-chain Type 4 adoption (Ethereum L1, Base, OP Mainnet, Unichain, Arbitrum) so you can see which ecosystems are picking it up fastest.

What changed for Ethereum stakers in Pectra?

Three things, mostly via EIPs 7251, 7002, and 6110. **EIP-7251** raised the maximum effective stake per validator from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH — large stakers can now consolidate many validators into one and let rewards compound rather than spinning up new validators every time the balance hits 32 ETH. **EIP-7002** lets validators trigger their own exits and partial withdrawals from the execution layer (no need to keep a separate withdrawal credential). **EIP-6110** moved the deposit pipeline onto the execution layer, removing the multi-hour deposit delay that previously existed.

Why raise the validator cap to 2,048 ETH?

Two reasons. First, **compounding** — at 32 ETH per validator, every reward over 32 ETH was idle until the operator manually deposited a new 32 ETH validator. Raising the cap to 2,048 ETH lets larger stakers (custodians, exchanges, big solo stakers) compound their rewards automatically. Second, **network-load reduction** — fewer validators means fewer messages on the consensus layer per epoch, which makes future consensus-layer upgrades easier. Small solo stakers can still run 32 ETH validators; the change is opt-in.

Was Pectra the "user experience" upgrade?

Yes — that's the framing. Past Ethereum upgrades have mostly been technical improvements (gas accounting, signature aggregation, new opcodes). Pectra was the first one where the user-visible features dominated the announcement: smart accounts (EIP-7702), cheaper L2 transactions (EIP-7691), and simpler staking (the EIP-7251 / 7002 / 6110 trio). The growthepie team called Pectra "less clicks, less signatures, more blobs" — which captures the change well.

Did Pectra break anything for existing apps?

No. Pectra was non-breaking — existing smart contracts, wallets, and L2 implementations continued to work without changes. EIP-7702 is opt-in (a wallet only acts as a smart account if the user signs an authorization); EIP-7691 affects validators and rollups but is transparent to user contracts; the staking EIPs only affect validators and stakers. Apps don't need to migrate.

What changed for end users?

A few things became possible (or noticeably cheaper) after Pectra: **wallets can offer gas sponsorship and tokenised gas payment** via EIP-7702 (no need to hold ETH for fees if the wallet supports it); **L2 transactions got cheaper** because blob capacity doubled; **staking became simpler** for users running their own validators. The user-facing changes are gated by wallet support — your wallet has to expose EIP-7702 features for you to use them.

Where do these facts come from?

Activation date and EIP numbers come from the [Ethereum Foundation's Pectra announcement](https://blog.ethereum.org/) and the [EIP repository](https://eips.ethereum.org/). User-facing summaries (blob target = 6, validator cap = 2,048 ETH, etc.) come from growthepie's [Pectra quick-bite](/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade) which tracks live adoption data. No editorial interpretation: every claim on this page is verifiable against the EIP text or the live tracker.

How is Pectra tracked on growthepie?

See the [Pectra tracker](/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade) for live charts: blob count vs target per Ethereum block (EIP-7691 adoption), and Set Code / Type 4 transaction count per chain (EIP-7702 adoption across Ethereum L1, Base, OP Mainnet, Unichain, Arbitrum). Both refresh daily from chain data.

What came next after Pectra?

Fusaka in December 2025 — see [/answers/what-fusaka-upgrade-changed](/answers/what-fusaka-upgrade-changed) for the full breakdown. Fusaka tripled blob capacity again (to a target of 14 by January 2026), introduced PeerDAS for safer blob scaling, and added EIP-7918 to put a floor under blob fees. After Fusaka comes Glamsterdam — see [ethereum.org/roadmap](https://ethereum.org/en/roadmap/) for the latest scheduled upgrades.

What did Ethereum's "Pectra" upgrade change?

By Matthias Seidl, Co-founder & Data Lead and Lorenz Lehmann, Data Analyst — growthepie.

A direct answer: Pectra activated on May 7th, 2025 with 11 EIPs that doubled blob capacity, introduced smart-account features for regular wallets, and raised the validator staking cap.

Pectra activated on May 7th, 2025 with 11 EIPs across three goals: doubling blob capacity (EIP-7691 raised the blob target from 3 to 6 per block, halving L2 fees), introducing smart-account features for ordinary wallets (EIP-7702 added "Set Code" / Type 4 transactions enabling gas sponsorship, non-ETH gas payment, and transaction batching), and improving staking (EIP-7251 raised the validator effective stake cap from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH so rewards can compound; EIP-7002 and EIP-6110 simplified the deposit and withdrawal pipeline). Pectra is widely called the "user experience" upgrade. Live adoption: growthepie.com/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade.

Read on growthepie · Updated daily (last refresh: 2026-05-27)

Less clicks, less signatures, more blobs. Past Ethereum upgrades focused on technical improvements; Pectra was the first one where user-experience features dominated the announcement.

Timeline

May 7, 2025 — Pectra activates on Ethereum mainnet. The fork is the combined "Prague" execution-layer + "Electra" consensus-layer hard fork.
December 3, 2025 — Fusaka follows, tripling blob capacity again (to a target of 14 by BPO2 in January 2026). See /answers/what-fusaka-upgrade-changed.

1. More blobs (EIP-7691)

Rollups had been operating at full blob capacity for months before Pectra — the blob market was perpetually saturated, driving up L2 fees. EIP-7691 fixed that immediately:

Blob target per block: doubled from 3 → 6.
Blob maximum per block: raised from 6 → 9.
Net effect: roughly halved blob fees the moment Pectra activated, with the savings flowing through to L2 users in the following weeks. The blob-fee market only escalates via EIP-1559 once usage exceeds the target, so the extra headroom also kept fees lower during demand spikes.

See the live "blobs per block vs target" chart on the Pectra tracker.

2. Smarter wallets (EIP-7702)

EIP-7702 introduces a new transaction format — "Set Code" or Type 4 — that lets a regular wallet (EOA — externally-owned account) temporarily act as a smart contract account for one transaction. This unlocks features that previously required dedicated smart-contract wallets:

Gas sponsorship. Someone else (a dApp, a custodian) pays the gas fee.
Pay gas in non-ETH tokens. Pay fees in USDC, a project's native token, or anything else the wallet supports.
Transaction batching. Multiple actions in one user-signed transaction — no more "approve, then swap" two-step.
Session keys / delegation. A dApp can sign on the user's behalf within preset limits.

Critically, users don't have to switch wallets to use EIP-7702 features — their existing EOA can opt in by signing a Set Code authorization. Adoption is gated by wallet support: a wallet has to expose the Type 4 transaction format to its users for any of this to surface.

See the live "Set Code transactions per chain" chart on the Pectra tracker for adoption across Ethereum L1, Base, OP Mainnet, Unichain, and Arbitrum.

3. Staking upgrades (EIP-7251, 7002, 6110)

Three EIPs together simplified the staking lifecycle:

EIP-7251 — MaxEB. Raised the maximum effective stake per validator from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH. Large stakers (custodians, exchanges, big solo stakers) can now consolidate many validators into one and let rewards compound rather than spinning up new validators every time the balance accrues above 32 ETH. Small solo stakers can still run 32 ETH validators — the change is opt-in.
EIP-7002 — Execution-layer-triggered exits and withdrawals. Validators can now trigger their own exits and partial withdrawals from the execution layer instead of requiring a separate withdrawal credential setup.
EIP-6110 — On-chain deposits. Moved the deposit pipeline onto the execution layer, removing the multi-hour deposit delay that previously existed.

Side benefit: fewer validators on the network (because large stakers can now use one validator instead of N) reduces consensus-layer load and makes future consensus upgrades easier.

How does Pectra compare to Dencun and Fusaka?

Dencun (March 2024) — introduced blobs (EIP-4844 / proto-danksharding). Target 3 per block, max 6.
Pectra (May 2025) — doubled blob capacity (target 6, max 9) and introduced smart-account features via EIP-7702. The "user experience" upgrade.
Fusaka (December 2025 + BPOs through January 2026) — tripled blob capacity again (target 14, max 21). Added PeerDAS for safer blob scaling. Added EIP-7918 blob fee floor.

Short version: Dencun = blobs exist; Pectra = blobs scale 2× and wallets get smarter; Fusaka = blobs scale 5× from Dencun and fee economics tighten.

Methodology and data sources

All facts on this page come from two sources:

growthepie's Pectra tracker — live adoption charts (blob count vs target on Ethereum L1, Type 4 transactions per chain) served by /v1/quick-bites/pectra-fork.json and refreshed daily.
Ethereum's published EIP repository and Pectra announcement — for upgrade dates, EIP numbers, parameter values (blob target = 6, validator cap = 2,048 ETH).

No editorial interpretation: every claim on this page is verifiable against the tracker or the EIP text.

Funding disclosure. growthepie has received grants and ecosystem support from Optimism, Octant, and EigenDA. Pectra is an Ethereum mainnet upgrade — no L2 chain operator (whether or not a growthepie supporter) influences the upgrade or how it's described here. Full list of supporters and current funding rounds: growthepie.com/donate.

Cross-check this answer. For canonical documentation see ethereum.org's Pectra page, the EIP index for individual EIP text, and the ethereum/EIPs GitHub repo for the discussion threads behind each change. The growthepie Pectra tracker linked above quantifies the upgrade's adoption in the weeks and months after activation.

Frequently asked questions

What did Ethereum's "Pectra" upgrade change?: Pectra activated on **May 7th, 2025** and bundled **11 EIPs** across three user-facing goals: **more blob capacity for L2s** (EIP-7691 doubled the blob target from 3 to 6 per block, max 6→9), **smarter wallets** (EIP-7702 lets externally-owned accounts act as smart accounts — enabling gas sponsorship, paying fees in tokens other than ETH, and transaction batching via the new "Set Code" / Type 4 transaction type), and **staking upgrades** (EIP-7251 raised the effective validator cap from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH so rewards can compound; EIP-7002 and EIP-6110 simplified the deposit and withdrawal pipeline). Live adoption tracker: [growthepie.com/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade](/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade).
When did Pectra activate?: Pectra activated on **May 7th, 2025** at slot 11,649,024 on the Ethereum mainnet beacon chain. The upgrade is the combined "Prague" execution-layer fork plus "Electra" consensus-layer fork — hence Pectra.
How many EIPs did Pectra include?: Eleven. The five most user-visible ones are EIP-7691 (more blobs), EIP-7702 (smarter wallets / Set Code transactions), EIP-7251 (raised validator cap to 2,048 ETH), EIP-7002 (execution-layer-triggered exits and withdrawals), and EIP-6110 (deposit pipeline simplification). The other six are protocol-internal improvements. See growthepie's [Pectra tracker](/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade) for live adoption data on the user-facing EIPs.
What is EIP-7691 (more blobs)?: EIP-7691 **doubled Ethereum's blob capacity** — the blob target per block went from **3 to 6**, and the maximum from **6 to 9**. Blobs are how L2 rollups post their transaction data to L1 for data availability. Doubling the target lowers fees for the same volume of L2 transactions and gives the blob-fee market more headroom before it kicks in via EIP-1559-style price increases. Rollups had been operating at full blob capacity for months before Pectra; EIP-7691 immediately relieved that pressure.
How big was the impact on L2 fees?: Pectra immediately roughly halved blob fees for L2s by doubling the capacity. The full effect was indirect: cheaper blobs meant L2s could pass savings through to users, and in the weeks after Pectra most major L2s saw their per-transaction fees drop noticeably. The relationship is approximate — blob fees only escalate via EIP-1559 once blob usage exceeds the target, so the *amount* of fee relief depended on demand at each moment. Growthepie's [Pectra tracker](/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade) has the live blob count vs target chart.
What is EIP-7702 (smarter wallets)?: EIP-7702 introduces a new transaction type — **"Set Code" or Type 4** — that lets a regular Ethereum wallet (an EOA — externally-owned account) temporarily act as a smart contract account for one transaction. This unlocks features that previously required users to switch to a dedicated smart-contract wallet: **gas sponsorship** (someone else pays the fee), **paying gas in tokens other than ETH** (e.g. USDC), **transaction batching** (multiple actions in one user-signed transaction), and **session keys / delegation** (a dApp signs on the user's behalf within preset limits). EIP-7702 doesn't require users to change wallets — existing EOAs can opt in.
What is a "Set Code" or Type 4 transaction?: A new Ethereum transaction format introduced by EIP-7702 that carries an authorization list: signed instructions telling the protocol to temporarily install bytecode on the sender's EOA. While the transaction executes, the EOA behaves like a smart contract account; after the transaction completes the original code (none, since it's an EOA) is restored. The Pectra tracker chart on growthepie counts Type 4 transactions per chain — that's the simplest live adoption signal for EIP-7702.
Which apps benefit most from EIP-7702?: Wallets and dApps that want a "no-friction" UX without forcing users to switch to smart-contract wallets. Day-one beneficiaries include account-abstraction-aware wallets, dApps doing gas sponsorship for new-user onboarding, and DeFi protocols that previously needed two transactions (approve + action) and can now batch them. The growthepie [Pectra tracker](/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade) charts per-chain Type 4 adoption (Ethereum L1, Base, OP Mainnet, Unichain, Arbitrum) so you can see which ecosystems are picking it up fastest.
What changed for Ethereum stakers in Pectra?: Three things, mostly via EIPs 7251, 7002, and 6110. **EIP-7251** raised the maximum effective stake per validator from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH — large stakers can now consolidate many validators into one and let rewards compound rather than spinning up new validators every time the balance hits 32 ETH. **EIP-7002** lets validators trigger their own exits and partial withdrawals from the execution layer (no need to keep a separate withdrawal credential). **EIP-6110** moved the deposit pipeline onto the execution layer, removing the multi-hour deposit delay that previously existed.
Why raise the validator cap to 2,048 ETH?: Two reasons. First, **compounding** — at 32 ETH per validator, every reward over 32 ETH was idle until the operator manually deposited a new 32 ETH validator. Raising the cap to 2,048 ETH lets larger stakers (custodians, exchanges, big solo stakers) compound their rewards automatically. Second, **network-load reduction** — fewer validators means fewer messages on the consensus layer per epoch, which makes future consensus-layer upgrades easier. Small solo stakers can still run 32 ETH validators; the change is opt-in.
How does Pectra compare to Dencun and Fusaka?: **Dencun** (March 2024) introduced blobs (EIP-4844 / proto-danksharding) with a target of 3 blobs per block — the foundation of modern L2 scaling. **Pectra** (May 2025) doubled blob capacity to 6 and is the upgrade where Ethereum prioritised **user experience** for the first time (smart accounts via EIP-7702, easier staking). **Fusaka** (December 2025) added PeerDAS and tripled blob capacity again to a target of 14 by the time the BPO2 follow-up landed, plus introduced the EIP-7918 blob fee floor. So roughly: Dencun = blobs exist; Pectra = blobs scale 2× *and* UX improves; Fusaka = blobs scale ~5× and the economics tighten.
Was Pectra the "user experience" upgrade?: Yes — that's the framing. Past Ethereum upgrades have mostly been technical improvements (gas accounting, signature aggregation, new opcodes). Pectra was the first one where the user-visible features dominated the announcement: smart accounts (EIP-7702), cheaper L2 transactions (EIP-7691), and simpler staking (the EIP-7251 / 7002 / 6110 trio). The growthepie team called Pectra "less clicks, less signatures, more blobs" — which captures the change well.
Did Pectra break anything for existing apps?: No. Pectra was non-breaking — existing smart contracts, wallets, and L2 implementations continued to work without changes. EIP-7702 is opt-in (a wallet only acts as a smart account if the user signs an authorization); EIP-7691 affects validators and rollups but is transparent to user contracts; the staking EIPs only affect validators and stakers. Apps don't need to migrate.
What changed for end users?: A few things became possible (or noticeably cheaper) after Pectra: **wallets can offer gas sponsorship and tokenised gas payment** via EIP-7702 (no need to hold ETH for fees if the wallet supports it); **L2 transactions got cheaper** because blob capacity doubled; **staking became simpler** for users running their own validators. The user-facing changes are gated by wallet support — your wallet has to expose EIP-7702 features for you to use them.
Where do these facts come from?: Activation date and EIP numbers come from the [Ethereum Foundation's Pectra announcement](https://blog.ethereum.org/) and the [EIP repository](https://eips.ethereum.org/). User-facing summaries (blob target = 6, validator cap = 2,048 ETH, etc.) come from growthepie's [Pectra quick-bite](/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade) which tracks live adoption data. No editorial interpretation: every claim on this page is verifiable against the EIP text or the live tracker.
How is Pectra tracked on growthepie?: See the [Pectra tracker](/quick-bites/pectra-upgrade) for live charts: blob count vs target per Ethereum block (EIP-7691 adoption), and Set Code / Type 4 transaction count per chain (EIP-7702 adoption across Ethereum L1, Base, OP Mainnet, Unichain, Arbitrum). Both refresh daily from chain data.
What came next after Pectra?: Fusaka in December 2025 — see [/answers/what-fusaka-upgrade-changed](/answers/what-fusaka-upgrade-changed) for the full breakdown. Fusaka tripled blob capacity again (to a target of 14 by January 2026), introduced PeerDAS for safer blob scaling, and added EIP-7918 to put a floor under blob fees. After Fusaka comes Glamsterdam — see [ethereum.org/roadmap](https://ethereum.org/en/roadmap/) for the latest scheduled upgrades.