Ethereum News: Pectra Upgrade Prepares with Hooli Testnet Launch, Aiming for April 25 Mainnet Deployment

Ethereum is gearing up for its next major upgrade, known as Pectra, with the launch of a new testnet codenamed Hooli. Here’s a closer look at what this means for the cryptocurrency and its future.

Ethereum Prepares for Pectra Upgrade with Hooli Testnet Launch

Ethereum is set to launch its third upgrade since The Merge in 2022, known as Pectra. The network will deploy a testnet codenamed Hooli on Monday, following technical issues with previous testnets Holesky and Sepolia. If successful, the Pectra upgrade could hit the mainnet as early as April 25, aiming to boost scalability and offer better staking flexibility. Despite this news, Ethereum’s price remains relatively unchanged, trading at just over $1,900 with a 0.5% gain over the past 24 hours. However, the second largest cryptocurrency has lost 13.3% in the past week amid macro pressures from President Trump’s trade war.

Ethereum’s Future at Risk Without Clear Leadership, Ex-Engineer Warns

A former Ethereum Foundation engineer and Solidity expert, Harikrishnan Mulackal, warned that Ethereum’s future is at risk due to a lack of clear and cohesive vision. He claimed that the lack of direction has stalled progress in Ethereum’s development, making it impossible to advance the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Mulackal expressed frustration over repeated shutdowns of EVM changes due to differing opinions within the community.

Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade Scheduled for March 2025

Proposed in November 2023, the Pectra upgrade follows March 2024’s Dencun upgrade and is set to rollout in March 2025. It is the third significant upgrade since the merge in 2022, which saw Ethereum move from a proof-of-work algorithm to proof-of-stake. Pectra merges the Prague and Electra upgrades, improving network performance and user experience. Key features include account abstraction, smart contract optimizations, and improved staking. Stakers will benefit from higher validator limits, from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH, and flexible withdrawals.

Ethereum Fees Collapse By 95%: A Historic Turning Point!

The Dencun upgrade of Ethereum has significantly reduced transaction fees on the network. Data from Etherscan shows that a swap now costs an average of $0.39, down from $86 last year. On March 13, 2024, Ethereum deployed the Dencun upgrade, merging the Cancun (execution layer) and Deneb (consensus layer) updates. This upgrade introduced nine improvement proposals aimed at enhancing scalability and reducing transaction costs, particularly for layer 2 solutions. The average gas fees dropped from 72 gwei in March 2024 to just 2.7 gwei by March 12, 2025, marking a 95% decrease.