Ethereum Pectra Upgrade: Stake Optimization and Layer-2 Expansion

Key Points

• The Pectra upgrade went live on May 7, increasing the maximum effective balance for validators to 2048 Ether and doubling the blob space to support Layer-2 scaling.
• More than 11,000 validators completed the merge, the number of active validators decreased by about 16,000, but the total staked Ether remained unchanged, with the average stake rising to about 32.4 Ether.
• The number of blobs published daily increased from about 21,000 to about 28,000, but the usage demand still falls short of the new target of 6 blobs per block.
• Layer-2 transaction volume continues to grow, and the total blob fees are close to zero. Future fee increases will depend on the increase in blob demand from Rollups.

Introduction

Ethereum successfully implemented the Pectra hard fork on May 7, bringing improvements to validator operations and staking flexibility, enhanced user experience, and Layer-2 scaling support. This upgrade includes the implementation of 11 EIPs and marks another important milestone following the launch of the Beacon Chain, continuing the development path of previous phases such as the Merge, Shapella, and Dencun.

This article analyzes the impact of Pectra's early launch, focusing on the effects of the maximum effective balance adjustment and the doubling of blob space on the staking mechanism and Layer-2 ecosystem, while tracking relevant key on-chain metrics.

Stake and Validators

The Pectra upgrade aims to optimize the validator operation process and enhance the flexibility of participation in the PoS system. EIP-7251 increases the maximum effective staking balance for validators to 2048 Ether, which could profoundly impact the network's economic structure. Stakers can now "top up" existing validators or merge multiple validators to improve compound reward efficiency.

Maximum effective balance adjustment (EIP-7251)

The validator merging process includes:

1. Update withdrawal voucher to type 0x02
2. Choose the source validator and the target validator
3. Submit Merge Request
4. After the source validator exits, the effective balance is transferred to the target validator.

This mechanism improves the capital efficiency of PoS systems and reduces the hardware and operational costs for large stakers.

Since the launch of Pectra until May 25, a total of 11,150 validators have completed the merge, with a total of 359,146 ETH merged.

The impact of ### on validators and stake economy

The total number of active validators has decreased by 16,344, partly due to EIP-7002 simplifying the exit process. The number of active validators has begun to decouple from the total staked Ether, leading to an increase in staking concentration.

This centralization not only enhances the capital efficiency of stakers but also helps alleviate network load and peer-to-peer communication pressure.

Currently, the average stake of validators has slightly increased from 32 ETH to 32.4 ETH, but the effective staking balance of most validators remains below 128 ETH. It is expected that as more node operators merge their stakes, the average will continue to rise, and the distribution structure of staking amounts will also change.

Blob Expansion and Layer-2 Development

Blob throughput doubled (EIP-7691)

EIP-7691 increases the target number of blobs per block from 3 to 6 and raises the limit from 6 to 9, significantly increasing the supply of blob space. This provides greater transaction capacity and lower data availability costs for Layer-2.

After the upgrade, the daily number of blobs uploaded by Rollup increased from about 21,300 to about 28,000, and the blob space used increased from about 2.7 GB to about 3.4 GB. The average number of blobs per block is gradually approaching the new target value of 6, indicating that the demand for Layer-2 transactions is growing.

However, due to the usage rate not reaching the target, blob fees remain at a very low level. Data shows that over 40,000 blocks did not contain blobs, while about 52,000 blocks contained 6 or more blobs, indicating there is still room for growth.

When the number of blobs per block exceeds the target value, the blob fee market will be triggered, increasing Layer-2 costs. EIP-7623 encourages the use of blob space as a more cost-effective data availability solution by raising the calldata costs.

impact on Layer-2

The increase in blob supply directly reduces Rollup costs. The average blob fee has further decreased, making it almost free for major Rollup projects. The total blob fees paid on Layer-2 have dropped to around 4 gwei. This provides higher profit margins and transaction processing capacity for Layer-2.

The trading volume of some Layer-2 projects, such as Base and Optimism, surged from 8 million to 14 million after the Pectra upgrade. This trend is similar to the situation when the Dencun upgrade first introduced blobs. If Ethereum hopes to derive more value from blob fees, Rollups need to gradually increase the usage of blobs and push towards the new block limit.

Conclusion

Pectra is an important step for Ethereum towards a globally universal settlement layer. Although it is not as eye-catching as previous upgrades, it introduces greater flexibility and efficiency to the staking ecosystem, while laying the foundation for scalability and user experience.

Early data shows that the integration of validators and the usage rate of Layer-2 blobs are on the rise, but many anticipated economic changes and scaling effects still require time to manifest. Pectra is paving the way for the next phase of adoption and growth for Ethereum.