Ethereum developers on Wednesday were first celebrated a seems to be successful Pectra testing, the most important blockchain upgrade since 2024, on the Sepolia test network. However, hours after the trial, Sepolia began to find mistakes.
This is the second trial in many bugs for the highly expected PECTRA upgrade, which Designed to improve Ethereum’s efficiency, user experience, and validator system. The issues lead to calls from some developers to delay upgrading.
Wednesday’s Sepolia test is expected to be the final step before Pectra’s launch in the Mainnet of Ethereum. At first, the test appeared to succeed, but eventually, the developers noticed the empty blocks added to the chain.
The Ethereum Foundation is linked to the issue with “an issue with the Sepolian deposit consent issue,” which “prevented many clients from implementing clients from including transactions in blocks.” In other words, the problem comes from a misinterpretation of Sepolia’s test, rather than a flaw with Pectra itself.
The developers of the Ethereum Foundation said they “identified the root cause within minutes” and assigned an arrangement to restore the normal network function.
Despite this, the test has raised concerns about whether Pectra has undergone adequate testing. The Previous trial In Ethereum’s holesky testnet also ran into adjustment issues, at that time caused by the misconduct of validators.
“I think the incidents in both holesky and Sepolia testnets provide delays in Pectra Mainnet Activation,” Christine Kim, vice president of Galaxy Digital research in CoinDesk, said. Kim noted that while developers could be prepared, Ethereum’s wider ecosystem – including the basic applications of smart contracts and purse providers – needs to be prepared.
Kim suggested that Ethereum developers “spend time to set up additional test infrastructure” before upgrading.
Ethereum core developers are scheduled to meet on March 7 to determine the official launch date of Pectra. Any delay can provoke controversy to Ethereum supporters, which is on the side because of a depressing ETH token price, ETHEREUM Foundation leadership drama, and competition mounted from networks such as Solana.
