The Pectra upgrade - the largest upgrade to Ethereum in terms of offerings - activated on the main network at epoch 364,032.
Pectra includes a series of enhancements aimed at making Ethereum more user-friendly and efficient. The massive upgrade contains 11 key EIPs. One major update is the addition of smart contract functionality to wallets, making them easier to use and recover.
The implementation of the hardfork in the Sepolia (consensus level) and Holesky (execution level) testnet led to failures. In the former case, intrusion by an attacker caused additional difficulties.
In Holesky, even after restoring the network's operability, it turned out to be impossible to test the functionality of the upgrade in terms of validator output.
The developers decided to create a new long-term testnet to complete the validation of the hardfork. The testnet, called Hoodi, launched on March 17, with the upgrade deployed in the same month.
According to a statement from the Ethereum team, the main features introduced in the upgrade are active on the mainnet, including:
- wallets in the form of smart contracts;
- doubling the amount of data storage for scaling L2 networks;
- improving the user interface for validators.
Developers will continue to monitor possible issues due to the hardfork activation over the next 24 hours.
Ethereum price hits $2000 amid smart money activism
Ethereum price indicates the best weekly dynamics among the top 10 cryptocurrencies. The coin's exchange rate grew by 8.5% during the week, exceeding $2000.
The Pectra update implemented on May 7 was not a key driver of the price increase, accounts Nansen analyst Nicolai Sondergaard:
"This is a long-term process, not an instantaneous driver."
The expert noted the accumulation of "smart money" - by institutionalizers like Wintermute. According to Nansen, within a day, the firm stockpiled the second most capitalized cryptocurrency to profit from market making.
Lookonchain experts recorded the withdrawal of 41,269 ETH ($75 million) from Binance and Kraken by London-based fund Abraxas Capital.
The entry price was $1930.41 per coin. The unrealized profit on the trade reached $354,000.
Despite the notable growth, ether is still 59% below its all-time high ($4878) and the ETH/BTC ratio is close to five-year lows. 65.5 million wallets (nearly half of the network) are at a loss, data from IntoTheBlock shows.
Ethereum's rally coincided with the overall market upswing, with capitalization reaching $3.2 trillion.
