<![CDATA[EthCatHerders - Medium]]> https://medium.com/ethereum-cat-herders?source=rss----cb99bef2c5dc---4 https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/proxy/1*TGH72Nnw24QL3iV9IOm4VA.png EthCatHerders - Medium https://medium.com/ethereum-cat-herders?source=rss----cb99bef2c5dc---4 Medium Tue, 19 May 2026 19:00:34 GMT <![CDATA[Happy 10 years of community building with Ethereum!!]]> https://medium.com/ethereum-cat-herders/happy-10-years-of-community-building-with-ethereum-7786bfff67c6?source=rss----cb99bef2c5dc---4 https://medium.com/p/7786bfff67c6 Wed, 30 Jul 2025 17:23:39 GMT 2025-07-30T17:23:39.558Z
10 years of Ethereum evolution

Dear Ethereum Family,

As a contributor to this incredible ecosystem, and on behalf of the ECH Institute, I want to congratulate every individual in the Ethereum community — not just for the protocol we’ve helped grow, but the incredible community behind it.

Ethereum is a big community project that anyone can join. No one owns it, but everyone who cares can help make it better. Over the last decade, it’s been a place where people team up to build a fairer, more open internet for everyone. To me,

Ethereum isn’t a finished product. It’s a living process, a long-term journey where everyone has a role to play.

Recently, we marked a major milestone — ECH Institute Inc. officially completed one year as a registered non-profit organization in the USA. At ECH Institute, we’ve spent the past year doing our small part by supporting protocol meetings, creating educational resources, hosting Office Hours for new contributors, producing PEEPanEIP content, and facilitating WiEP study groups. Watch this video sharing our journey with the ecosystem.

https://youtu.be/P9mB_MK56DE

We believe in showing up-not just during the big upgrades, but every day, behind the scenes-because that’s how real progress happens.

To everyone building, documenting, reviewing, learning, or simply cheering us on — thank you. Your support is what keeps us going.

As we look ahead, let’s keep making space for more people, more ideas, and more ways to get involved. Let’s continue to support education, community building, and homesteading Ethereum.

The next 10 years start now!

Cheers,

Pooja Ranjan

Artwork and video created by Akash Khsirsagar.

Happy 10 years of community building with Ethereum!! was originally published in EthCatHerders on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

]]> <![CDATA[It’s Pectra Time!]]> https://medium.com/ethereum-cat-herders/its-pectra-time-0cf5561f662c?source=rss----cb99bef2c5dc---4 https://medium.com/p/0cf5561f662c Tue, 06 May 2025 23:02:00 GMT 2025-05-07T01:54:28.477Z Protocol Progress, EL & CL changes, PEEPanEIP, Quizzes, NFT & a Watch party invite.

The Ethereum community is expecting to activate Pectra on mainnet on May 07, 2025 at epoch 364032 (10:05:11 UTC). This is the 3rd upgrade on the post-Merge Ethereum blockchain. It is also the 19th network upgrade since the launch in 2015, probably the highest number of upgrades to an active blockchain.

Pectra is bringing a combination of execution and consensus layer changes. The upgrade will be activated in less than 24 hours. It will introduce features such as staking exits from the execution layer, code-enabled EOAs, calldata cost adjustments, and blob throughput increases, among many others. It intends to continue the protocol’s development toward scalability, security, and decentralization.

Alongside the technical upgrades, Ethereum Cat Herders and the broader community have collaborated on educational content, including PEEPanEIP recordings, testing call summaries, NFT for Author’s Recognition and a Shapella & Dencun-style watch party to mark the occasion.

✨ Why is it called “Pectra”?

Ethereum upgrades are named using a simple pattern: the execution layer is named after a Devcon city, and the consensus layer is named after a star. “Pectra” is a mix of Prague (the city where Devcon IV was held) and Electra (a bright star in the Taurus constellation). This name shows that both layers of Ethereum are being upgraded at the same time.

🔧 What’s Included: Meta EIP & Core EIPs

- YouTube

Preparing for Pectra: A Paw-some Video by EthCatHerders

To help the community understand what’s changing, the Ethereum Cat Herders have recorded several PEEPanEIP episodes with EIP authors and implementers, offering deep dives into individual proposals and their rationale. Catch the full Pectra Playlist.

Meta EIP-7600 documents the upgrade scope.

Core EIPs

Other EIPs

🚀 Testnet Deployments & Incident Reports

The Pectra upgrade underwent a rigorous multi-phase testing process across Ethereum’s public testnets to ensure network readiness and client stability over several Devnets. Initial deployment on Holesky (Feb 24, 2025) revealed sync issues and client incompatibilities, which were promptly addressed and documented in the Holesky Post-Mortem. These early findings informed critical improvements ahead of the Sepolia deployment (Mar 5, 2025), which encountered a known bug that was swiftly fixed — also captured in the Sepolia Post-Mortem.

A final pre-mainnet run on the Hoodi testnet (Mar 26, 2025) served as the final staging ground, confirming system readiness for mainnet. Each testnet phase contributed valuable insights, reinforcing the reliability of the client releases and validator configurations.

The upgrade is scheduled for mainnet activation on May 7, 2025 at 10:05:11 UTC, following the activation plan outlined in the Mainnet Upgrade & Incident Response Team Plan. This phased rollout has exemplified Ethereum’s commitment to secure and transparent upgrade coordination.

Activation Plan & Client Requirements

The Pectra upgrade is scheduled to activate on the Ethereum mainnet on May 7, 2025. To remain compatible and continue participating in Ethereum’s consensus, node operators and validators must upgrade both their Execution Layer (EL) and Consensus Layer (CL) clients to a Pectra-ready version.

One notable development in this upgrade cycle is the participation of Reth, the latest addition to Ethereum’s Execution Layer clients, and Grandine, as an open-source Consensus Layer client now included in the upgrade process.

Upgrading is essential — nodes that do not upgrade will fork from the main network and be left on an incompatible chain.

Refer to the Ethereum Foundation blog post for complete client upgrade instructions and FAQ. Be sure to update your clients to the minimum compatible versions to remain part of Ethereum’s mainnet consensus.

🙌 Education, Community Engagement & Author Recognition

Ethereum Cat Herders championed a series of community-driven initiatives to ensure the Pectra upgrade was not only technically successful but also widely understood, celebrated, and accessible to all.

🎙️ PEEPanEIP Series

To deepen public understanding of the EIPs included in Pectra , we recorded detailed walkthroughs with EIP authors and client implementers. These educational discussions are part of the ongoing PEEPanEIP series, designed to make Ethereum protocol changes transparent and approachable.

📜 Ethereum Protocol Progress

Ethereum Cat Herders has launched a new series titled “Ethereum Protocol Progress” — a curated collection of tweet threads that document each major Ethereum network upgrade. This initiative aims to make Ethereum’s evolution more accessible and understandable to the broader community. Each thread breaks down an upgrade’s Introduction, Core Features, Benefits, Community Impact, Challenges, and Fun Facts, offering a concise yet informative snapshot of how the protocol has progressed over time.

Browse the full series below and follow along to revisit Ethereum’s most important milestones leading to Pectra:

  1. Frontier
  2. Frontier Thawing
  3. Homestead
  4. The DAO Fork
  5. Byzantium (Metropolis)
  6. Constantinople (Metropolis 2)
  7. St. Petersburg (Constantinople 2)
  8. Istanbul
  9. Muir Glacier
  10. Beaconchain (Phase 0)
  11. Berlin
  12. London
  13. Altair
  14. Arrow Glacier
  15. Gray Glacier
  16. The Merge (Bellatrix + Paris)
  17. Shapella (Shanghai + Capella)
  18. Dencun (Deneb + Cancun)
  19. Pectra (Prague + Electra)

Each step brought Ethereum closer to a more efficient, scalable, and secure decentralized future.

🏅 Author Recognition: Pectra Commemorative NFTs

To recognize the invaluable contributions of EIP authors, Ethereum Cat Herders have launched a special edition commemorative NFT for those who contributed to the Pectra upgrade. Read more here.

If you’ve authored one or more EIPs included in Pectra, you can claim your NFT here.

To claim:

  • Verify your GitHub username (as cited in the EIP)
  • Submit your ENS or Base-compatible wallet address
  • The NFT will be airdropped gas-free to your wallet

This limited-edition NFT is a symbol of gratitude from the Ethereum Cat Herders and the broader Ethereum community. Thank you for helping shape the protocol’s future.

🐉 Octant’s Dragon Den Raffle & Quiz

In collaboration with the Octant community, Ethereum Cat Herders organized a Pectra-themed quiz and raffle, rewarding winners with free or discounted tickets to Ethereum events. This initiative helped grow awareness of protocol upgrades in a fun and inclusive way.

🏛️ Onsite Engagement at ETH Cluj

We also partnered with ETH Cluj to promote Pectra-related education on the ground, bringing conversations about Ethereum’s evolving architecture directly to the builder and staker communities.

🎉 Join the Watch Party!

We’re celebrating the Pectra mainnet upgrade with a fun livestream watch party — and you’re invited!
Hosted by Ethereum Cat Herders, EthStaker, along with The Daily Gwei & Bankless, this event brings together developers, researchers, validators, and the community to walk through the upgrade as it happens live.

📺 Watch on YouTube

🧵 Watch on X

Bring your snacks, questions, and good vibes! 🧃🎉

This isn’t just an upgrade — it’s a moment for the whole Ethereum community. Let’s enjoy it together!

🫶 Thank You, Ethereum Community!

Pectra happened because of the amazing work from so many people — client teams, researchers, testers, node operators, educators, and community contributors from all over the world. Let’s take a moment to celebrate this big step in Ethereum’s journey — and look forward to what’s coming next!
Special thanks to Akash Kshirsagar for beautiful designs, Vaelyn Luo for leading community events George Hervey for the NFT distribution.

Looking forward to a Pawsome future! 🐾

Support & Follow us on X | Warpcast | YouTube | LinkedIn | Website.

It’s Pectra Time! was originally published in EthCatHerders on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

]]> <![CDATA[Purr-suit of Ethereum # 7]]> https://medium.com/ethereum-cat-herders/purr-suit-of-ethereum-7-54afcd45938a?source=rss----cb99bef2c5dc---4 https://medium.com/p/54afcd45938a Mon, 03 Mar 2025 13:02:40 GMT 2025-03-03T15:57:09.328Z Your Weekly Dose of Blockchain Updates and Meows!

Welcome to the seventh edition. Catch up on the latest updates since our last edition and explore all past newsletters here. This week, we bring you the latest on the Ethereum Foundation Leadership, Pectra and Fusaka upgrades and a roundup of upcoming Ethereum events and ecosystem developments. Stay informed, get involved, and continue contributing to the Ethereum community!

Summary

  • New Ethereum Foundation Leadership — Hsiao-Wei Wang & Tomasz Stanczak appointed as co-Executive Directors. Danny Ryan returns as co-founder of Etherealize.
  • Pectra Upgrade: Holesky Validator Incident Post-Mortem & Debrief released. Grants & NFT rewards for EIP authors of Pectra Upgrade.
  • Ethereum Core Development & EIPs: Read EIPsInsight, watch PEEPanEIP Playlist, join Ethereum Magicians Discussions.
  • Public Goods & Community Initiatives: A special talk with Sejal on Deep Funding.

Welcoming a new EF leadership structure

Pectra (Prague+Electra) Upgrade

Execution Layer Meeting 206

Client testing call #26, February 24, 2025

Fusaka (Fulu + Osaka) Upgrade

Breakout & Implementers’ Meeting

Beam Call

  • #2: Recording (unaavailable at the time of writing)

EIP-7732 Breakout Room

  • #17: Rcording and Terence’s Notes (unavailable at the time of writing)

L2 Interop Working Group Call

FOCIL Breakout

PeerDAS Breakout Room

Portal Implementers Call

  • #46: Recording (Unavailable at the time of writing) & Notes

Stateless Implementers Call

eth_simulate Implementers’ Meeting

Mev-boost community call

EIPs Update

EIPsInsight

New EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals)

Twitter spaces with Stacks Foundation

PEEPanEIP & Ecosystem Project Demo

Released episodes

Upcoming releases

Ecosystem Project Demo

Recording released

Upcoming releases

  • Octant v2 with James K

Public Goods Funding

  • Sejal is joining EthCatherdrs to talk about Deep Funding on March 4th
  • EthCatHerders participating in Giveth’s upcoming round

Events

Community Resources

Upcoming Research

Share your project updates with us

To add updates, visit our GitHub repository. If you wish to contact the team, join ECH’s Discord. Alternatively, you can email us at team@ethcatherders.com by Friday to be added to the next edition of the newsletter scheduled for release on the following Monday.

Remember to visit our official website, blogs, YouTube, Podcast and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn & Farcaster for more updates.

Stay Curious, Stay Connected and Keep Purring 🐾

Purr-suit of Ethereum 🐾 # 7 was originally published in EthCatHerders on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

]]> <![CDATA[Purr-suit of Ethereum #6]]> https://medium.com/ethereum-cat-herders/purr-suit-of-ethereum-6-2bc6bdbbb7ea?source=rss----cb99bef2c5dc---4 https://medium.com/p/2bc6bdbbb7ea Tue, 18 Feb 2025 02:23:01 GMT 2025-02-18T02:23:01.768Z Your Weekly Dose of Blockchain Updates and Meows!

Welcome to the sixth edition of the Purr-suit of Ethereum! If you missed our last edition, you can catch up here. This week, we bring you the latest on the Pectra and Fusaka upgrades, ongoing client testing & research efforts, updates on public goods funding, and a roundup of upcoming Ethereum events and ecosystem developments. Stay informed, get involved, and continue contributing to the Ethereum community!

Summary

  • ACDbot is coming in soon!
  • Pectra Upgrade: Devnet-6 is running smoothly; testnet upgrades on Holesky (Feb 24) and Sepolia (Mar 5) before mainnet activation.
  • Fusaka Upgrade: Proposal deadline March 13, review by March 27, final scope by April 10.
  • Testing & Breakouts: PeerDAS-devnet-4 live, EOF & ePBS testing progressing, multiple breakout calls scheduled.
  • Testnet countdown
  • EIPs & Grants: 3 new drafts, 13 EIPs in Last Call, ESP’s Pectra Proactive Grant Round open.

Pectra (Prague+Electra) Upgrade

Pectra testnet announcement

It will go live on

  • Holesky at epoch 115968 (Feb. 24, 21:55 UTC) and
  • Sepolia at epoch 222464 (Mar. 5, 7:29 UTC).
    Once both testnets have successfully upgraded, a mainnet activation epoch will be chosen.

Once both testnets have successfully upgraded, a mainnet activation epoch will be chosen.

Pectra has already been activated on Ephemery, a staking testnet which resets every 28 days. Read more about Ephemery testnet here.

Client releases for the Pectra upgrade on both Holesky and Sepolia.

Name Version Link Grandine 1.0.0 Download Lighthouse 7.0.0-beta.0 Download Lodestar 1.27.0 Download Nimbus 25.2.0 Download Prysm 5.3.0 Download Teku 25.2.0 Download Besu 25.2.0 Download Erigon 2.61.1 Download go-ethereum 1.15.1 Download Nethermind 1.31.0 Download Reth 1.2.0 Download

Fusaka (Fulu + Osaka) Upgrade

Fusaka Fork scoping timeline:

  • March 13: Fusaka Proposed for Inclusion deadline
  • To do so, open a PR against EIP-7607
  • March 27: Deadline for core devs & researchers to review PFI’d EIPs and share their preferences async
  • Any format is OK, but please link write ups in the EIP-7607 EthMagicians thread
  • April 10: Tentative deadline to finalize Fusaka’s scope.

Execution Layer Meeting 205

Client testing call #24, February 10, 2025

Key Decisions & Next Steps

  • Going ahead with testnet Pectra forks: Announcement in ACD channel; client teams should prepare for releases. Dates can be found here 7.
  • Tx Pool Tests: Testing team is currently working on them.
  • PeerDAS: PeerDAS-devnet-4 is now live, planning for future devnets has started.
  • EOF Testing: Kurtosis-based testing now works, EEST is going to be used to trigger bugs at the start.
  • ePBS & IL Testing: Proceed with standalone domain testing before considering mainnet inclusion. Kurtosis integration is complete.

Breakout & Implementers’ Meeting

Beam Call #1

EIP-7732 Breakout Room #16

L2 Interop Working Group Call #3

FOCIL Breakout # 4

PeerDAS Breakout Room #17

RollCall #10 [2025–02–12]

Portal Implementers Call #44

Stateless Implementers Call #30

  • Stateless Ethereum Information Page is a new website of public explanation about Ethereum’s stateless benefits.
  • Follow the Stateless team on X to get updates about Ethereum’s stateless efforts.
  • Recording & Recap

eth_simulate Implementers’ Meeting Feb 10, 2025

EIPs Update

EIPsInsight

EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals)

  • 3 Draft added
  • 2 moved to Stagnant

— EIP-7727: EVM Transaction Bundles

— EIP-3540: EOF — EVM Object Format v1

  • 1 moved to Review
  • 13 advanced to Last Call: All Pectra upgrade EIPs included.

ERCs (Ethereum Request for Comments)

RIPs (Rollup Improvement Proposals)

  • 1 Draft added:

— RIP-7875: Canonical ERC-7802 Token Bridge Address

PEEPanEIP & Ecosystem Project Demo

Released episodes

Recording scheduled

Upcoming releases

Ecosystem Project Demo

Recording scheduled

  • EPD: Octant v2 with James on Thursday Feb 20, 2025 at 19:30 UTC

Upcoming releases

Upcoming Protocol Calls

Public Goods Funding

Events

Community Resources

Upcoming Research

Share your project updates with us

To add updates, visit our GitHub repository. If you wish to contact the team, join ECH’s Discord. Alternatively, you can email us at pooja@ethcatherders.com by Friday to be added to the next edition of the newsletter scheduled for release on the following Monday.

Remember to visit our official website, blogs and follow us on Twitter & Farcaster for more updates.

Stay Curious, Stay Connected and Keep Purring 🐾

Purr-suit of Ethereum 🐾 #6 was originally published in EthCatHerders on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

]]> <![CDATA[Purr-suit of Ethereum #5]]> https://medium.com/ethereum-cat-herders/purr-suit-of-ethereum-5-3dbfe72b3855?source=rss----cb99bef2c5dc---4 https://medium.com/p/3dbfe72b3855 Mon, 10 Feb 2025 22:01:47 GMT 2025-02-10T22:01:47.289Z Your Weekly Dose of Blockchain Updates and Meows!

Summary

This week’s Ethereum updates cover key protocol advancements, proposal reviews, and community initiatives since the last newsletter. Highlights include:

  • Pectra Upgrade Progress: Client teams prepare for Holesky & Sepolia forks on Feb 13, with Pectra EIPs moving to Last Call status.
  • Devnet 6 Testing: Deployment announced, focusing on EOF, PeerDAS, ePBS & IL refinements.
  • EIP Reviews & Implementation Discussions: Multiple proposals reviewed, with debates on GitHub handle requirements and EIP-7702 documentation needs.
  • PEEPanEIP Podcast: Recent episodes cover Fast Confirmation Rules, and EIP-7623.
  • EIP-7706 & Gas Market Changes: Vitalik Buterin discusses multi-dimensional gas pricing and the potential impact of calldata gas separation.
  • Public Goods & Community Updates: Deep Funding’s Level 2 juror applications open, Octant Epoch 7 Climate Round ongoing, and new EF leadership in AI & Public Goods.
  • Upcoming Ethereum Events: ETHDenver, ETHPrague, and Devconnect 2025.

Pectra (Prague+Electra) Upgrade

All Core Dev Consensus #150

Action Items

  • Prepare client releases for 13 February to enable Holesky and Sepolia Pectra forks.
  • [EL clients] Take a look at 7702 mempool implementation to surface test cases.
  • Add your client team’s Pectra retrospective by next week’s ACD: Pectra Retrospective
  • PSA: Move all Pectra EIPs to Last Call status!

Pectra Interop Testing Call

Key Decisions & Next Steps

  • Devnet 6 Deployment: Announcement in Interop channel; client teams should prepare for testing.
  • EIP-7702 Implementation: More documentation needed; community contributions welcome.
  • Tx Pool Tests: Address specific cases, integrate with EEST and Hive testing, review test list.
  • PeerDAS: Continue edge case syncing; prioritize after Pectra completion.
  • EOF Testing: Prepare for Kurtosis-based testing after Pectra Devnet 6.
  • ePBS & IL Testing: Proceeding with standalone domain testing before considering mainnet inclusion.

Breakout & Implementers’ Meeting

eth_simulate Implementers’ Meeting Feb 03, 2025

RPC Standards Call #0

Portal Network Implementation #43

PeerDAS Breakout Room #16

RollCall #9.1 Breakout — L2 Execution Common Core: V1 Scope

  • Awaited
  • RollCall #10 planned for Febuary 12, 2025 at 14:00–15:30 UTC

EOF Implementers Call #66

EIPs Update

EIPsInsight

EIP Editing Office Hour Meeting 51

Proposal Review & Implementation Discussion

Sam Wilson reviewed the status of various proposals, moving some to review while others required further development. Full recording here.

  • Sam & Pooja agreed to extend a proposal’s deadline once the author addressed feedback.
  • Pooja emphasized the benefit of having at least one implementation for final status, but Sam wasn’t in favor of making it mandatory.
  • They discussed a proposal’s viability, with Sam expressing concerns about its substance and potential use, yet agreeing to move it forward.
  • Github Handles: Regarding GitHub handles,Pooja proposed making adding GitHub handle of all co-authors mandatory, however Sam maintained that having at least one is sufficient for approval.
  • They also assessed several proposals, approving some while identifying necessary revisions, and agreed to continue reviews in future meetings.

PEEPanEIP

Released episodes

Recording scheduled

Upcoming releases

  • PEEPanEIP-7805: Fork-choice enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL)
    In this PEEPanEIP recording, Pooja Ranjan, discussed EIP-7805, also known as FOCIL with co-authors Thomas, Francesco, Julian Barnabe who are part of the Ethereum Foundation’s Robust Consensus Group. The proposal aims to allow a committee of validators to enforce included transactions in every block. The proposal is currently in draft status and is an active discussion for the future upgrade. The main goal of FOCIL is to increase the credible neutrality of Ethereum.
  • PEEPanEIP-7706: Separate gas type for calldata with Vitalik Buterin
    Vitalik discussed the concept of multi-dimensional gas pricing as a scaling strategy for Ethereum, proposing a separate gas limit for call data in EIP-7706. He also compared EIP-7623 and EIP-7706, highlighting the potential complexities and risks of implementing the latter. The conversation ended with discussions on the future of Ethereum, the importance of openness and decentralization, and the potential for user experience improvements.

EIP updates

Call For Input (Open)

(No change since the last week.)

Ecosystem Project Demo

  • EPD: OSObserve
    Rohit Malekar and Carl Cervone, from the Open Source Observer (OSO) team joined with EthCatHerders. They shared his background, the transition and involvement with the OSO team. The discussion then shifted to the role of OSO in tracking, analyzing, and supporting open source projects by offering real-time insights into their contribution and impact. The guests also discussed the global nature of open source and the need for better funding models, with crypto networks offering a new model for funding open source projects. Stay tuned for the recording coming out soon.

Upcoming Protocol Calls

Date & Time (UTC) Event Link Monday, Feb 10, 2025 at 12:00 UTC eth_simulate Implementers’ Meeting GitHub Monday, Feb 10, 2025 at 14:00 UTC Pectra Interop Testing Call — Monday, Feb 10, 2025 at 15:00 UTC Stateless Implementers Call #30 GitHub Monday, Feb 10, 2025 at 16:30 UTC Portal Network Implementation GitHub Tuesday, Feb 11, 2025 at 14:00 UTC FOCIL Breakout #4 TBA Tuesday, Feb 11, 2025 at 21:00 UTC PEEPanEIP-7691: Blob throughput increase with Pari, Sam & Toni — Wednesday, Feb 12, 2025 at 14:00 UTC RollCall #10 GitHub Thursday, Feb 13, 2025 at 14:00 UTC All Core Dev Consensus #150 GitHub Friday, Feb 14, 2025 at 14:00 UTC EIP-7732 breakout room TBA

Public Goods Funding

— Become a juror in Deep Funding’s Level 2

Events

Community Resources

Upcoming Reasearch

Share your projects with us

To add updates, visit our GitHub repository. If you wish to contact the team, join ECH’s Discord. Alternatively, you can email us at team@ethcatherders.com by Friday to be added in the next edition of the newsletter scheduled for release on the following Monday.

Remember to visit our official website and follow us on Twitter for more updates.

Stay Curious, Stay Connected and Keep Purring 🐾

Purr-suit of Ethereum 🐾#5 was originally published in EthCatHerders on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

]]> <![CDATA[Purr-suit of Ethereum #4]]> https://medium.com/ethereum-cat-herders/purr-suit-of-ethereum-4-86ef8469b479?source=rss----cb99bef2c5dc---4 https://medium.com/p/86ef8469b479 Mon, 03 Feb 2025 14:54:05 GMT 2025-02-03T14:54:05.628Z Your Weekly Dose of Blockchain Updates and Meows!

The Ethereum ecosystem continues to push forward with major protocol upgrades, client testing, and ecosystem-wide discussions. This week’s update covers the latest Pectra (Prague + Electra) upgrade developments, including security updates, testnet timelines, and system contract audits. Additionally, we dive into the latest discussions from All Core Devs, EVMMAX Implementers, and EIP Editing Office Hours, alongside new insights on validator hardware requirements, pre-confirmation mechanisms, and public goods funding initiatives and more updates since the last newsletter. If you’re tracking Ethereum’s Protocol meetings, this edition is packed with critical updates!

TL;DR

  • 🚨 Urgent Geth Update — Users must update to v1.14.13 to patch security vulnerabilities.
  • 🏗️ Pectra Upgrade — Devnet-6 is progressing; testnet forks for Holesky and Sepolia could happen by Feb 6, with client releases expected by Feb 10.
  • 🔬 System Contract Audits — Security reviews of EIPs 2935, 7002, and 7251 reveal concerns around fee updates.
  • 🏎️ EVMMAX Testing — Poseidon hash tests show a 10x efficiency gain using EVM Max over Solidity, with more benchmarking on the way.
  • ⚙️ Validator Hardware Debates — No final agreement yet on bandwidth requirements for Ethereum validators; discussions continue in the Ethereum R&D Discord.
  • 🤖 New ACD Bot Coming — A bot for recordings, calendar events, and notes will be presented in the next All Core Devs call.
  • 📜 EIP Editing Milestone — The 50th EIP Editing Office Hour marked a shift to dedicated EIP-only sessions to speed up proposal reviews.
  • 🏛️ Public Goods Funding — Octant Epoch 7 is open for climate-focused projects, and Gitcoin Grants 23 is set for March with a revamped funding strategy.

Pectra (Prague+Electra) Upgrade

All Core Devs — Execution (ACDE) #204 (January 30, 2025)

  • Urgent Security Update: Geth users should update their nodes immediately to apply the latest security release.
  • Pectra Devnet-6 & Timelines: Client teams should share devnet-6 ready branches. If stable by Feb 6, testnet fork slots for Holesky and Sepolia will be selected, with client releases expected by Feb 10.
  • Mainnet Fork Slot Consideration: The mainnet fork slot will be chosen only after Holesky forks successfully, likely around Feb 20, to avoid misleading expectations.
  • System Contract Audits Completed: Audits for EIPs 2935, 7002, and 7251 were conducted by multiple firms, revealing concerns about the fee update mechanism.
  • Fusaka Fork Planning: The first Fusaka devnet should only include EOF and PeerDAS, with further EIPs considered once stable. No additional decisions were made beyond this scope and that allowed teams to share their perspectives on the Pectra Retrospective thread.
  • Node Hardware & Bandwidth Discussions: Validator bandwidth requirements sparked debate, with no final agreement. The conversation continues on the R&D Discord.
  • Upcoming ACD Bot Presentation: A new bot to automate recordings, calendar events, and notes for AllCoreDevs will be presented in the next call.
  • Recording, Podcast version, Tim Beiko’s FEM Notes, Nixo’s Tweet Thread, YashKamal Chaturvedi’s Notes, Christine’s notes

Client testing call #22 (January 27, 2025)

Breakout & Implementers’ Meeting

EIP-7732 breakout room #15 (January 31, 2025)

  • Client Implementation Updates: Progress was reported on running Teku locally with ongoing issue fixes. Plans were discussed to prioritize gossip syncing and ensure clients are ready for devnet testing.
  • Beacon API & Execution Payloads: A new API endpoint was proposed to fetch execution payloads independently. Discussions also covered adding event stream topics to notify toolings when a new payload is received.
  • Pre-Confirmations & Potential Challenges: The impact of Epbs on pre-confirmation mechanisms was debated, particularly concerns over a brief period where only one entity holds key information. Further evaluation is needed to assess whether this introduces centralization risks.
  • Slot Auction Research & Challenges: Various slot auction mechanisms were discussed, including potential execution ticket designs. However, major challenges remain in implementing fork choice rules, slashing conditions, and preventing collusion.

Action Items for Next Meeting:

  • Implement new API endpoints for execution payload requests.
  • Continue improving client implementations and achieve a two-client Kurtosis run.
  • Engage with pre-confirmation teams to evaluate potential blockers.
  • Collaborate with researchers to further assess the impact of the identified “blackout period” on centralization risks.
  • Next Steps: The team aims to finalize API updates, test implementations, and assess the viability of different approaches for pre-confirmations and execution tickets while focusing on safe, incremental improvements.
  • Recording, Terence’s notes

EVMMAX Implementers Call 2 (January 30, 2025)

Client Updates:

  • EthereumJS team completed most of the JavaScript arithmetic library.
  • Work on vectorized and non-vectorized implementations continues, with comparisons planned.

Poseidon Hash Implementation:

  • Initial tests show a 10x efficiency improvement using EVM Max compared to Solidity.
  • Future work includes validating gas cost reductions and potential wall clock time improvements.

Vectorized vs Non-Vectorized Execution:

  • Ongoing discussion about whether vectorized operations should be the default.
  • Need to determine end-user requirements, such as elliptic curves vs. STARKs.

SIMD & Hardware Compatibility:

  • AVX2 (256-bit) is widely available, while AVX-512 has limited support.
  • Investigating impact on smaller fields where SIMD benefits could be more pronounced.

Tooling & Testing Pipeline:

  • A front-end tool is needed for easier implementation testing.
  • Options include direct bytecode generation or adding support to Solidity/Ule.

Action Items:

  • Confirm EVM Max gas numbers and benchmark wall clock performance.
  • Investigate SIMD comparisons using AVX2 with Poseidon hashing.
  • Develop a tool for end-to-end testing of EVM Max implementations.

Next Steps:

  • Compare Solidity-based Poseidon with EVM Max implementations.
  • Refine vectorized and non-vectorized benchmarks to guide further decisions.
  • Plan for the next meeting in one month to review progress.
  • Notes & Recording

L2 Interop Working Group — Call #2 (January 29, 2025)

FOCIL Breakout Room #3 (January 28, 2025)

Portal Implementers Call #42 (January 27, 2025)

eth_simulate Implementers’ Meeting

EIPs Update

EIP Editing Office Hour Meeting #50 (January 28, 2025)

Milestone & New Editing Sessions:

  • Celebrating the 50th EIP Editing Office Hour and over two years of contributions by Sam Wilson.
  • Introduction of a dedicated EIP-only editing session led by Gajendra Singh to address backlog.

Reviewing Open Pull Requests:

  • Addressing EIPs ready for status updates (e.g., moving drafts to review).
  • Noting delays due to pending author responses, especially for active EIPs related to upcoming hard forks.
  • Suggesting authors raise PR concerns in All Core Devs (ACD) calls for quicker resolutions.

Handling Draft EIPs & New Submissions:

  • Reviewed new draft EIPs for correctness and formatting.
  • Discussed the importance of including benchmarking data and rationale for proposals with technical specifications.
  • Authors encouraged to use relative URLs for links and provide clear justification for hardware requirements.

EIP Status & Update Policies:

  • Discussion on best practices for versioning frequently updated EIPs (e.g., hardware recommendations per hard fork).
  • Agreement on linking each update to a specific fork rather than using “Living” status.

Process Improvements & Next Steps:

  • Encouraging active discussion in EIP’s Magician forums for technical clarifications.
  • Proposal to allocate EIP numbers even for unmerged drafts unless abuse is detected.
  • Next EIP+ERC editing session scheduled for next Tuesday at 16:00 UTC.
  • Notes, Recording

PEEPanEIP

EIPsInsight

Call For Input (Open)

Upcoming Protocol Calls

https://hackmd.io/@poojaranjan/PoE4#Upcoming-Protocol-Calls

Public Goods Funding

Octant Epoch 7 (Jan 30 — Feb 13, 2025)

Dedicated to “Climate Round”, applications are OPEN for the Octant Epoch 7. If your project aligns with these areas and has been around for at least a year, the team wants to hear from you!

Deep Funding (Ongoing)

Backed by Vitalik Buterin, Deep funding is launched to support different projects based on dependency or ‘deep’ graph that shows the relative value of open source contributions in a network and deep learning.

In Deep Funding, most of the work gets done by a public market of allocators, that suggest proposed weights of edges in a graph. Using AI for allocations is encouraged.

Timeline

  • December 12th, 2024: Data on 40,000 Ethereum dependencies for building your model
  • Jan 20th, 2025: Sample spot check data by jury members to train your model
  • Jan 20th, 2025:Deadline for “early bird” prizes for open source model submissions. At least half of the open source model submission prize pool will be reserved for early bird submissions.
  • Feb 20th, 2025: Submit your model
  • Feb 27th, 2025: Results

Gitcoin Grant 23 (Upcoming in March 2025)

GG23 is kicking off at the end of March, and big changes are coming. The team shared Gitcoin Grants 2025 Strategy in a recent blogpost and the team intends to moving into a multi-mechanism future, allowing us to ensure a fairer funding distribution, supporting builders at every stage of growth.

Community thoughts on Public Goods Funding

There are a lot of different thoughts on “Public Goods”. Last week Dan Robinson shared his thoughts on what he considers as “Public Goods”. Vitalik Buterin responded

careful, “infra” is itself one of those words with challenging connotations 😀
I’d say “funding for pure open source”

Pooja Ranjan thinks the Ethereum Cat Herders is one of the popular public goods projects in the Ethereum ecosystem as “Public Goods” can be many things including essential coordination funding, fuel for Ethereum’s progress, an investment in Ethereum’s future and more.

Let us know your thoughts on Public Goods funding. Tag your top 5 favorite projects and us in your response Tweet :)

Events

Upcoming Events

Community Resources

Share your projects with us

Have updates about your project or client? Share them with us at team@ethcatherders.com by Friday (end of day EST) to be added to the next edition of the newsletter scheduled for release on the following Monday.

Stay Curious, Stay Connected and Keep Purring 🐾

Purr-suit of Ethereum 🐾 #4 was originally published in EthCatHerders on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

]]> <![CDATA[Celebrating the 50th EIP Editing Office Hour ]]> https://medium.com/ethereum-cat-herders/celebrating-the-50th-eip-editing-office-hour-cccfdb646cd1?source=rss----cb99bef2c5dc---4 https://medium.com/p/cccfdb646cd1 Tue, 28 Jan 2025 14:02:01 GMT 2025-01-28T14:02:00.361Z A Milestone in community education, collaboration & progress!

The Ethereum community runs on teamwork, new ideas, and shared standards. Today, we’re excited to celebrate a big milestone: the 50th EIP Editing Office Hour! Let’s look at how it started, thank the people who made it happen, and share what’s next.

How It Started?

The idea of EIP Editing Office Hours was based on the EIP Editors’ Apprenticeship Meetings introduced in November 2021 by the Ethereum Cat Herders and EIP Editor Matt Garnett. Matt helped train new contributors to become EIP reviewers, opening the door for contributors to engage more deeply in the Ethereum ecosystem. These meetings encouraged more people to get involved and learn about editing EIPs.

Building on the success of the apprenticeship meetings, the EIP Editing Office Hour was launched to provide a real-time, collaborative platform for EIP authors and potential new contributors. The office hour sessions officially began in September 2022, taking place every alternate Tuesday.

The goal was simple: give contributors a chance to ask questions, get help with their EIPs, and learn about the process. Over time, these sessions have become a key part of improving Ethereum standards.

Big Thanks to Sam Wilson 🙏

A huge thank-you goes to Sam Wilson, who has been leading these sessions. Over the past two years, Sam has answered countless questions, reviewed hundreds of pull requests (EIPs and ERCs), and made the process smoother for everyone. Sam’s dedication has been vital to the success of these office hours, and we’re incredibly grateful for all your hard work. Thank you, Sam!

Welcome Gajinder Singh 🤝

We’re excited to announce that Gajinder Singh is joining us to provide extra support for EIP Editing Office Hours. Gajinder will focus on leading sessions dedicated to reviewing EIPs only. With this added support and now three office hours per month, we aim to further reduce the number of open pull requests and better serve the community.

Thanks to All Editors 🙌

Behind the scenes, many editors work hard to review and merge pull requests. These contributions keep Ethereum’s standards up-to-date and ready for new developments. Thanks to everyone working asynchronously to make this happen!

Join the Office Hours 👋

The EIP Editing Office Hour is open to everyone. It’s a great place to learn about the EIP process, get your questions answered, and collaborate with others. If you’ve submitted a pull request, you can:

  • Get help to understand the workflow.
  • Work with editors to merge your proposal.
  • Learn why a pull request wasn’t merged and how to improve it.

We also encourage you to check out the EIP Editing Office Hour playlist on YouTube. It’s a helpful resource to understand the process and see the community in action.

Looking Ahead 🛣

Reaching the 50th session is a big achievement, and we’re excited for what’s next. The EIP Editing Office Hour will keep growing and adapting to support the Ethereum community. Thanks to everyone who has been part of this journey so far. Join EthCatHerders Discord for more information.

Follow the Ethereum Cat Herders on Website, GitHub, Twitter, Medium, and YouTube.

Here’s to more purr-fect collaboration and claw-some innovation in the future! 🐾

Celebrating the 50th EIP Editing Office Hour 🎉 was originally published in EthCatHerders on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

]]> <![CDATA[Purr-suit of Ethereum #3]]> https://medium.com/ethereum-cat-herders/purr-suit-of-ethereum-3-48169fae5631?source=rss----cb99bef2c5dc---4 https://medium.com/p/48169fae5631 Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:02:15 GMT 2025-01-27T13:02:14.995Z Your Weekly Dose of Blockchain Updates and Meows!

In this edition, we bring you key highlights from the Ethereum ecosystem, including updates on the upcoming Pectra (Prague + Electra) upgrade, insights from the latest All Core Devs Consensus Call, and details on recent implementers’ and breakout meetings. For those new to this series, don’t worry — you can catch up with our previous newsletter here.

Other highlights include exciting news about Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) in progress, updates on the Public Goods Funding, and upcoming events. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue our mission to empower Ethereum through education, community building, and innovation.

Pectra (Prague+Electra) Upgrade

Consensus (ACDC) #149, (January 23, 2025)

  • devnet-6 will likely launch in the week of Jan 27th
  • Proposed timing for Pectra:

— SEPOLIA (Feb 12, 2025) — epoch: 219392; slot: 7020544; timestamp: 1739980128; forkId: 0xbafd09c3

— HOLESKY (Feb 19, 2025) — epoch: 113152; slot: 3620864; timestamp: 1739352768; forkId: 0xf818a0d6

— Mainnet: Mar 11, 2025 (NOT FINAL, just an ambitious goal)

Pectra Interop #21 (January 20, 2025)

  • Move forward with Pectra devnet 6, incorporating a new genesis file and validator set increase to 50,000–100,000.
  • Mario will release updates with EIP-7702 changes and fixes.
  • Client teams to review and comment on PRs as needed.
  • Notes by EthCatHerders, Fellowship of EthMagicians. No recording is available.

Breakout & Implementers’ Meeting

EOF Implementers Call #65 (Jan 22nd, 2025)

JSON-RPC Standardization Breakout (Jan 20, 2024)

This is a new breakout room meeting initiated as a result of discussion to be continued from the last ACDE.

  • The discussion focused on broader goals and stakeholder involvement, emphasizing the need to refine internal processes before involving external stakeholders like wallets and RPC providers.
  • Suggestions included using the group to address consistency issues and align new feature proposals with broader stakeholder needs.
  • Key action items were identified:
  • incorporating eth_fillTransaction `into the execution spec, refining and documenting new methods, ensuring RPC compatibility through rigorous testing, and improving specification documentation for better usability.
  • As next step, devs decided to continue async discussions on eth_fillTransaction and RPC compatibility tests on Discord.
  • Future discussions will prioritize error handling and establishing processes for integrating new features and methods.
  • The next meeting will be scheduled in the next two weeks.
  • Recording & Notes by EthCatHerders

eth_simulate

No meeting on Jan 20, 2024

EIPIP Metting #112 (January 15, 2025)

  • Stagnant Tag Discussion: A few suggestions to address issues with the “Stagnant” tag for Core EIPs under active consideration. Will bediscussed further in the next meeting.
  • EIP Reviewers: Proposal to introduce formal EIP Reviewer roles approved. Details to be finalized in the Editors’ Workshop.
  • Editors’ Workshop Announcement: Workshop planned for onboarding and discussions.
  • Proposal Builder Tool:

— Get the .md file to document a proposal using this tool. Demo shared, tool deemed useful for new authors.

— Requested adding the tool link to eips.ethereum.org.

EVM Resource Pricing Breakout #1 (January 15, 2025)

The Gas Repricing Working Group meeting is a new breakout focused on three key agenda items: benchmarking efforts, short-term pricing changes, and research for medium-term updates.

Presentations included an overview of the Nethermind gas-benchmarks tool by Marek, showcasing its use in identifying bottlenecks, and Jacek’s Gas Cost Estimator tool, which proposed updated gas cost schedules tested across seven EL clients.

Discussions addressed strategies for short-term adjustments, such as single and multi-block warming to improve efficiency, and medium-term considerations for hardforks like Fusaka and Amsterdam. Concerns around backward compatibility were highlighted, with suggestions to leverage EOF mechanisms for versioning and restrict gas schedule changes to EOF contracts.

  • Benchmarking Efforts:

— Tools presented for analyzing gas costs and addressing bottlenecks in existing schedules.

— Proposals to refine gas pricing schedules for greater efficiency.

  • Short-Term Pricing Changes:

— Adjustments to precompile gas costs due to benchmarking insights revealing they are underpriced.

— Ideas like single and multi-block warming were discussed, with efficiency gains estimated at 5–6% for single block and ~15% for multi-block.

  • Medium-Term Strategy:

— Addressed strategies for future hardforks like Fusaka & Amsterdam.

— Backward compatibility concerns raised about repricing, with suggestions to restrict changes to EOF contracts.

— Agreement that increasing gas prices historically caused breakages, while reducing prices carries lower risk.

  • Backward Compatibility:

— Suggested leveraging EOF mechanisms for versioning to mitigate issues.

— Discussions on feasibility of automating checks to detect potential contract breakages.

  • Future Considerations:

— Incentivizing fair contract usage without disadvantaging smaller contracts.

— Exploring zk-proof pricing adjustments (e.g., 10x keccak costs).

— Dcrapis proposed a session on EVM memory pricing, potentially to be covered in a future call if time doesn’t permit.

Action Items

  • Draft EIPs for short-term pricing changes.
  • Continue benchmarking efforts to refine gas cost schedules.
  • Explore applying new gas schedules only to EOF contracts to preserve legacy compatibility.
  • Schedule EVM memory pricing presentation for the next call.

FOCIL Meeting #2 (Jan 14, 2025)

  • Notes by Matthew
  • CL Implementation: The team is actively working on implementation, though some bugs may still need addressing.
  • FOCIL Implementation Notes: Terence shared detailed notes.
  • Lighthouse has provided support for the effort.
  • The plan includes shifting focus to RETH on the EL side.
  • Launching a percentage of EL clients with a modified mempool is in progress.
  • Kurtosis is supporting the definition of mempool logic with Tx Spammer Configuration.
  • Implementation Goals:

— Implement blocks with inclusion lists.

— Expected to complete in the next day or two.

  • FOCIL Intro Slides: Shared by Soispoke.
  • The team has started work in Privacy & Anonymity area. Interested contributors can reach out to Soispoke.
  • Relevant Links:

— Beacon API PR

— Jacob’s Update

— Jihoon’s Talk

— Docker and Kurtosis Config: Repo

— Setting Up Local FOCIL Devnet

  • Local Devnet: A local devnet for FOCIL is ready to be run.

Client Updates

  • Teku: Progress underway with active work on FOCIL implementation.
  • Teku FOCIL Branch.
  • Nethermind: Prototyping and implementation in progress (PR).
  • Lodestar: Differences addressed in this PR.
  • Metrics: Katya has started working on beacon metrics, to be shared soon.
  • Timeline: Aiming for the FOCIL devnet by the end of January, with progress on track.

EIPs Update

EIPsInsight

The latest Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) updates reflect progress across various repositories:

  • EIPs: 10 proposals transitioned to Stagnant, 4 moved to Review and 5 new added to Draft.
  • ERCs: 4 proposals advanced to Final, 4 are in Last Call, 3 transitioned to Review and 3 added to Draft.
  • RIPs: 3 proposals added as Draft.
https://eipsinsight.com/insight/2025/1

Proposals in the Last Call

  • ERC-7734: Decentralized Identity Verification (DID)
  • ERC-7751: Wrapping of bubbled up reverts
  • ERC-7820: Access Control Registry
  • ERC-7818: Expirable ERC-20

PS: This data is collected from EIPsInsight

Other tools

Call For Input (Open)

EIP Editors’ Workshop

Upcoming Protocol Calls

https://hackmd.io/@poojaranjan/PoE3

PS: This table is created based on Protocol calendar and GitHub Issues.

Public Goods Funding

Octant Epoch 6

A heartfelt thank you to all the donors and supporters who contributed to making this round impactful. 💖 Your generosity will fuel us, to continuously work for you all and drive meaningful change.

ECH Public Goods Challenge

Ethereum Cat Herders is on a mission to empower Ethereum through Education, Community building, and Homesteading Ethereum initiatives. Now, we’re calling on you — our amazing community and supporters — to help us take this mission even further. Your contributions fuel the tools, resources, and connections that keep Ethereum thriving.

Stay tuned — more details on the Public Goods Challenge are coming soon. Let’s build a stronger Ethereum ecosystem together! 🐱

Events

Consensus 2025 — HK (Feb 19, 2024)

If you’re at Consensus HK, don’t miss the session with our Ethereum devs! The Ethereum community’s participation and sharing of the latest developments at events like these are fantastic opportunities to foster engagement and strengthen connections within the ecosystem. Excited to see the Cat Herders leading the coordination for this representation.

Upcoming Events

Community Resources

Share with us

Have updates about your project or client? Share them with us at team@ethcatherders.com by Friday (end of day EST) to be added in the next issue, scheduled for release the following Monday.

Stay Curious, Stay Connected and Keep Purring 🐾

Purr-suit of Ethereum 🐾 #3 was originally published in EthCatHerders on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

]]> <![CDATA[Purr-suit of Ethereum #2]]> https://medium.com/ethereum-cat-herders/purr-suit-of-ethereum-2-378c1a79e7bb?source=rss----cb99bef2c5dc---4 https://medium.com/p/378c1a79e7bb Mon, 13 Jan 2025 15:47:52 GMT 2025-01-13T15:47:52.384Z Your Weekly Dose of Blockchain Updates and Meows!

We’re thrilled to bring you the second edition of Purr-suit of Ethereum, your go-to newsletter for staying updated on the latest happenings in the Ethereum ecosystem. In this edition, we dive into the latest developments shaping the Ethereum ecosystem, from upcoming major upgrades to community-driven initiatives. If you missed it, you may find the previous edition here.

Summary 🐾

  • Ethereum Network Upgrades: Pectra Devnet5 to be launched soon. Learn about Glamsterdam, get the latest updates on the Pectra (Prague+Electra) upgrade, insights from the InterOp meeting, and highlights from ACDC/ACDE discussions.
  • Breakout Room Meetings: Explore key discussions on Eth Multicall Implementers, PeerDAS, EOF Implementers, EVM Max, ePBS, and more.
  • EIPs Update: Stay informed with highlights from the EIP Editing Office Hour, EIPIP meetings, and the EIP Editors Workshop, alongside the latest insights from EIPsInsight.
  • Clients Updates: Catch up on the latest progress across both Execution and Consensus clients.
  • Community Resources: Discover research blogs, developers thoughts, and community-driven resources to support your Ethereum journey.
  • Public Goods Funding: Octant epoch 6 — Learn how your contributions may help public goods projects across the ecosystem.

Dive in as we explore key updates, emerging trends, and the collective efforts driving Ethereum’s continued growth. Let’s keep building together!

Ethereum Network Upgrade

Pectra (Prague+Electra) Upgrade

InterOp meeting (January 13, 2025)

Pectra

  • Spec releases were done last week, v1.5.0-beta.0 and pectra-devnet-5@v1.2.0
  • Pari will trigger the Hive update after Mario’s/Dan’s fix.
  • New tests have been added for EIP-7623 into the EEST release.
  • No more test releases for devnets are expected before starting on the testnet, with a full release planned this week.
  • Tests are being consumed in Assertor, and initial results look promising.
  • No other open PRs; the testing is moving closer to the final release and testnet phase.
  • Depending on Dan’s tests, Nethermind should pass all Hive tests.
  • Erigon: Passing all Spec tests; Hive test results are pending. Code review is in progress and looks positive.
  • Besu: In a similar position to Erigon, with all implementations completed and potentially quicker to release.
  • Open Topics:
  • Eric raised the topic of SSZ support for builder flow on CL.
  • Pari clarified that SSZ support is optional and not the main focus but will be tested in collaboration with the Flashbots team.
  • Lighthouse is still missing from Kurtosis tests, which impacts Pectra testing as Lighthouse is essential. Updates are expected this week.
Note: Pectra Devnet 5 will launch without MEV support by default but will add it later.

PeerDAS

  • Highlights from the last meeting:
  • Most clients are working on rebasing and local testing.
  • Standardizing metrics completely won’t be possible and we would rely on two queries (seconds and milliseconds) for many metrics. Standardizing metrics may temporarily break some clients.

EOF

  • Danno will merge the branch for testing.
  • Some issues with block tests were noted but are expected.
  • Building for the Osaka 0 testnet will start once there are three merged clients.
  • Geth and Erigon have yet to merge their changes.
  • A smoother release process is anticipated when shipping is planned.

All Core Devs — Consensus (ACDC) #148

The first ACDC call of the year was relatively shorter, focusing primarily on pectra-devnet-5 logistics. Here are the key highlights, as summarized in notes by Alex Stokes:

  • Devnet-5 Launch: Expected within a week or two.
  • Spec Updates: Open questions and PRs for devnet-5 spec items have been addressed.
  • Client Readiness: All Consensus Layer (CL) clients are in various stages of readiness, nearing completion for devnet-5 launch. Execution Layer (EL) client readiness will be checked in the next ACDE call.
  • Forking Testnets: If devnet-5 proceeds smoothly, discussions to fork testnets Sepolia and Holesky to Pectra may begin in the next few weeks.
  • Community Coordination: Feedback was requested on a minimal set of node requirements to aid community coordination and protocol R&D. See the document here: Hardware Requirements — HackMD.
  • Upgrade Naming: The G-star name for the Consensus Layer upgrade is “Gloas”. The upgrade following Fusaka is likely to be named Glamsterdam.

🎙️ You can also follow the ACDC 148 podcast, brought to you by the Ethereum Cat Herders team!

Breakout Room Meetings

Eth Multicall Implementers aka eth_simulator calls (Jan 06, 2025)

In the previous meeting, alongside the Client Implementation updates, developers discussed ideas for eth_simulateV2.

To improve accessibility and organization, notes will be shared, and Issues for future meetings are now created on the ethereum/pm repository.

Highlights from today’s meeting

Agreed Action Items and Implementation Decisions

  • Add new tracing methods and derive specifications from implementations.
  • Specify the outer trace object structure while treating block traces as a black box.
  • Align EatSimulator implementation across all clients.

Transaction and Block Tracing Strategies

  • Explore adding a trace_simulate method for debugging transactions.
  • Propose tracing both transactions and blocks, capturing state roots between transactions.
  • Support client-specific tracing methods.
  • Consider creating separate namespaces for Geth and Parity traces to improve organization.
  • Potentially add client-specific namespaces for enhanced tracing methods.

eth_simulate Parameter Extensions

  • Propose adding an optional RLP return parameter to eth_simulate for v2 documentation.
  • Suggest including a hidden parameter to return RLP data alongside the standard JSON response.

Test Suite and Reliability Challenges

  • Investigating issues with duplicate blocks caused by total difficulty pegged to zero.
  • Reduced failing test cases from 83 to 72; duplicate block issues remain a significant challenge.
  • Regular updates to the Hive test suite; participants are encouraged to report any discrepancies.
  • Observed non-deterministic test failures likely linked to race conditions or shared state issues.

You can also watch the recording from today’s meeting.

Stateless Implementers Call

No meeting was conducted last week, but Stateless Implementers Call #29 Agenda has been created for this week. The calendar indicates a meeting scheduled for today at 15:00 UTC. Any updates will be shared in the next issue, when available.

You may follow earlier meetings videos, notes available at breakout room folder.

PeerDAS Breakout Room #14 (Jan 07, 2025)

  • Client Updates:
  • Prysm supports Deneb-to-Electra & Fulu transitions and is working on custody group counts.
  • Lodestar is transitioning to custody groups with new implementers.
  • Nimbus completed custody groups (spec tests passing) and is focusing on column syncing and Fulu activation.
  • Lighthouse implemented custody groups and getBlobSidecars API, progressing on checkpoint sync and Fulu activation.
  • Teku developed a Fulu branch and will focus next on subnet decoupling.
  • Devnet Updates:
  • PeerDAS Devnet-4 Spec Alpha.10 released, featuring optional validator custody for supernodes. Pari is updating the spec.
  • Spec Changes:
  • Consensus Spec PR #4073 retains getBlobSidecars V2 endpoints and removes V3 endpoints. Updates will be included in the next devnet.
  • Metrics Issue:
  • PeerDAS metrics are unavailable for Teku and Lighthouse due to deprecated EIP7594_FORK_EPOCH. Using ethereum-package v4.4.0 is a temporary workaround until Fulu activation.

Detailed notes added to PeerDAS Breakout Room Folder with PR here.

FOCIL Implementers

No meeting was conducted last week. Developers have agreed that the next meeting will take place on January 14th at 14:00 UTC and will follow a biweekly cadence moving forward.

Refer to the agenda for details.

EOF Implementers Call #64 (January 8th, 2025)

The meeting was held on last Wednesday, where various client teams provided updates and discussed the potential launch of the EOF Devnet. As per Danno Ferrin’s notes

  • Testing: One PR still needs to be merged. Fuzzing updates available: Ethereum Fuzzer Differential Script.
  • Client Updates: No new updates were reported. Clients need to rebase on Perctra-5. A minimum of three clients is required for the EOF devnet.
  • Compiler Support: PR list reviewed; small proposed changes have minimal impact, but hashing changes are more significant. Assembly syntax for the EXCHANGE opcode remains undecided:
  • Options: absolute byte encoding, nybbles, or stack index (all have off-by-one issues).
  • Related inconsistencies affect SWAP/SWAPN numbering.
  • Refer to Frangio’s summary on assembly syntax.
  • Spec Updates: EIP-7834 introduces a separate metadata section for EOF 1. Potential scenarios summarized: EOF Address Scheme Updates.
  • Shipping Timeline: Target is contingent on resolving critical issues. Coordination with PeerDAS is recommended for simultaneous EL and CL forks.

Next Steps

  • Review and finalize the EOF Devnet-1 list for EOFv1 tuning.
  • Discuss the ACCOUNTTYPE opcode (EIP-7761) as a potential dealbreaker for app developers:
  • Is ERC-165 a viable alternative?
  • Identify what app developers would accept.

The agenda for the next meeting, scheduled for January 22nd, 2025, at 15:00 UTC, is now available.

To ensure community accessibility, the agenda, video, and notes from the last meeting have been added to the Breakout Room Folder along with the associated PR.

EIPs Update

EIP Editing Office Hour # 49

Organized on January 7th, Editor Sam Wilson reviewed pull requests:

  • 9/17 PRs merged.
  • 17/17 PRs reviewed.

Got an open PR? Add it for review and join us for our milestone 50th Office Hour on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at 16:00 UTC. Bring your questions and get them answered!

Call For Inputs: Have Your Say on EIP Process Decisions

The Ethereum Cat Herders are seeking community input on several important EIP process decisions. Your participation is crucial in shaping the Ethereum ecosystem. There are 3 Open Call For Input this week:

1. Allow Links to Blockchain Commons

  • Decision: Should external links to Blockchain Commons be allowed?
  • If Affirmed: Updates will be made to EIP-1 and eipw to permit such links.
  • If Rejected: No changes will be made.
  • Method: Rough Consensus
  • Deadline: February 6, 2025
  • Participate: GitHub Issue #376

2. Forcibly Withdraw EIP-7675

  • Decision: Should ethereum/EIPs#9154 be merged to forcibly move EIP-7675 to Withdrawn?
  • If Affirmed: EIP-7675 will be moved to the Withdrawn status.
  • If Rejected: No changes will be made.
  • Method: Rough Consensus
  • Deadline: January 17, 2025
  • Participate: GitHub Issue #374

3. Define “Meta” as Only Relating to Processes

  • Decision: Should ethereum/EIPs#9153 be merged to redefine “Meta” EIPs to exclude hardforks?
  • If Affirmed: Updates to EIP-1 will reclassify hardfork EIPs as Informational.
  • If Rejected: No changes will be made.
  • Method: Rough Consensus
  • Deadline: January 17, 2025
  • Participate: GitHub Issue #373

Join the discussions, provide your input, and help shape the decisions that impact the Ethereum ecosystem. Your voice matters

EIPsInsight January 2025

2 EIPs and 1 ERC proposals are added as Drafts

  1. EIP-7851: Deactivate/Reactivate a Delegated EOA’s Key
    Status: Moved to Draft.
  2. EIP-7840: Add blob schedule to EL config files
    Status: Moved to Draft.
  3. ERC-7777: Governance for Human Robot Societies
    Status: Moved from Review to Draft.

7 EIPs are moved to Stagnant

  1. EIP-5806: Delegate transaction
    Status: Moved from Draft to Stagnant.
  2. EIP-7591: BLS signed transactions
    Status: Moved from Draft to Stagnant.
  3. EIP-7547: Inclusion lists
    Status: Moved from Review to Stagnant.
  4. EIP-7549: Move committee index outside Attestation
    Status: Moved from Review to Stagnant.
  5. EIP-7594: PeerDAS — Peer Data Availability Sampling
    Status: Moved from Review to Stagnant.
  6. EIP-7692: EVM Object Format (EOFv1) Meta
    Status: Moved from Review to Stagnant.
  7. EIP-7716: Anti-correlation attestation penalties
    Status: Moved from Draft to Stagnant.

2 ERCs are promoted to Review

  1. ERC-7777: Governance for Human Robot Societies
    Status: Moved from Draft to Review.
  2. ERC-7818: Expirable ERC-20
    Status: Moved from Draft to Review.

3 ERCs are promoted to Last Call

  1. ERC-7734: Decentralized Identity Verification (DID)
    Status: Moved from Review to Last Call.
  2. ERC-7751: Wrapping of bubbled up reverts
    Status: Moved from Review to Last Call.
  3. ERC-7820: Access Control Registry
    Status: Moved from Review to Last Call.

EIP Editors Workshop

With the growing number of PRs, we need more reviewers! A big thank you to the client developers who have shown interest in volunteering to review and edit. 🙌

If you’re interested in learning how you can support EIPs, join us for the EIP Editor’s Workshop:
📅 Date: January 17th, 2025
🕓 Time: 16:00 UTC

📺 The meeting will be live-streamed on EthCatHerders YouTube.

Let’s collaborate to improve the EIP process together! 💡

Clients Updates

Execution

erigon v2.61.0

Upcoming Ethereum Protocol Meetings

Link

Other event dates

  • The Next Billion
    Fellowship     application for Cohort 5 accepted until January 19th, 2025. If you miss the deadline, you’ll be considered for cohort #6 (starting in October 2025).

Community Resources

Research

Public Goods Funding

Octant Community in the 6th Epoch

The Octant community is now in the 6th epoch to support public goods (PG) projects in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Many thanks to fishbiscuit and other 8 supporters who have supported EthCaHerders in the active round.

If you’re one of those who supported Ethereum Cat Herders on Octant epoch 6, we appreciate your support. Please tag us on X and motivate others.

Key Dates

The allocation window opened on January 11, 2025, and will remain open until January 25, 2025.

How You Can Support

If you hold GLM, we’d greatly appreciate your support for EthCatHerders and other public goods projects. Octant will multiply your contributions to amplify their impact on the project.

Learn More

Check out where EthCatHerders will use the donations.

Have updates about your projects or clients? Share them with us at team@ethcatherders.com by Friday (end of day EST) to be added in the next issue, scheduled for release the following Monday.

Stay Curious, Stay Connected and Keep Purring 🐾

Purr-suit of Ethereum 🐾 #2 was originally published in EthCatHerders on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

]]> <![CDATA[Purr-suit of Ethereum #1]]> https://medium.com/ethereum-cat-herders/purr-suit-of-ethereum-1-7a057cc3a2ed?source=rss----cb99bef2c5dc---4 https://medium.com/p/7a057cc3a2ed Mon, 06 Jan 2025 14:30:48 GMT 2025-01-06T20:57:48.807Z Your Weekly Dose of Blockchain Updates and Meows!

Happy 2025, Ethereum Community! 🎉

We’re thrilled to kick off the new year with the launch of our brand-new Ethereum Ecosystem Newsletter: Purr-suit of Ethereum🐾. This weekly newsletter will keep you in the loop with updates from Ethereum developer meetings, newly added EIPs, proposals in last calls, and all the exciting happenings in the Ethereum ecosystem — delivered straight to your inbox.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, now’s the time!

Summary 🐾

  • Pectra Upgrade — Pectra Testing overview, ready for devnet 5.
  • Upcoming Breakout Room& Implementers’ Meetings — Ethmulti_call, PeerDAS, EOF, FOCIL.
  • EIPs updates—EIP Editors’ workshop on Jan 17th.
  • ECH Initiatives — First edition of the Purr-suit of Ethereum newsletter
  • PGF & support — Octant Epoch 6
  • Other Community updates

Pectra (Prague+Electra) Upgrade

A paw-some video by the team: Preparing for Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade!

With 10 proposals Scheduled for Inclusion, Pectra Upgrade is getting closer. Currently, it is being actively implemented by clients and is on Devnet for internal testing.

Pectra Interop

From today’s meeting (Pectra Interop #19)

  • EIP-7840: Add blob schedule to EL config files will be moved to ‘Informational’ instead of proceeding as ‘Standard Track-Core’.
  • Matt Garnett will make the changes on the formatting of the EIP-2935 as suggested in PR.
  • Execution specs release update (Mario): Two releases done. v1.1.10 is the latest. It contains one of the test cases is fixed which was found by Reth team.
  • The Hive instance for Pectra Devnet 5 is deployed using the latest branches. Reth team passed all tests. Geth is working, so is Besu. Erigon and Nethermind also configured on Hive.
  • All CL except LighHouse are able to interop. Expect it to be feature complete on CL and should be in a position to launch Devnet 5. Additional info for CL teams— Be mindful of bunch of issues with minimal preset for CL.
  • MEV workflow is mostly working. Pari is testing it.https://github.com/pawanjay176/rustic-builder/
  • Already done with Kurtosis. All the CL can start testing the MEV workflow. which will be good for Devnet 5. https://github.com/ethpandaops/ethereum-package/pull/864
  • Readiness — Prysm, Lodestar ready. Geth, N/m will be this week. Erigon in the next week.
  • PeerDAS: Some clients do have local changes. Will be having Kurtosis testing will be shared by Pari shortly. Manu & Agnish have some discussion, will be discussed tomorrow in the PeeDAS Breakout Room.
  • EOF Update — No rebase is going on right now, that is the next target. Currently clients are changing some stack items and hash the EOF create, looks like they’re going to do it this week. Danno is running the fuzzer. Not all the client has same block hash implementation. A couple of other corner cases like ether flowing 256 bits, or if gas roll over and some other items are under discussion. Looking good so far.
  • When EOF is ready for devnet, DevOps team can be reached out, said Parithosh.

As per the Clients testing Call#18; EIP-7742: Uncouple blob count between CL and EL is removed and 3 proposals added to devnet. Those are

Test Releases include

Consensus Specs: v1.5.0-alpha.10 includes everything except Bump GOSSIP_MAX_SIZE from 10MiB to 15MiB which maybe added to future devnet. Execution Spec Tests: pectra-devnet-5@v1.0.0 has only 3 Open PRs

Progress details can be found on pectra-devnet-5 specs.

Community Q&A

Q: What are the latest image tags to run a kurtosis devnet with devnet-4 specs (or where can I find them)?

A: You can use these images for devnet-4 specs: https://github.com/ethpandaops/mekong-devnets/blob/master/ansible/inventories/devnet-0/group_vars/all/images.yaml#L3

FunFact

Execution Layer Upgrade is named “Prague” after Devcon 4, which was organized in 2018 at the Prague Convention Center in the Czech Republic (Czechia).

Consensus Layer Upgrade is named “Electra” after being selected as a winner to the proposed list of E-Star.

Upcoming Ethereum Devs meetings

Breakout & Implementers’ Meeting

Eth multicall Implementers

The eth_call method lets you check a contract’s internal state, run validations written in the contract, or test what a transaction would do without actually executing it. Ethereum client developers meet every Monday at 12:00 UTC to discuss their progress and updates.

To learn more about eth_simulate, watch PEEPanEIP#135: Eth Simulate with Oleg and Killari.

The next meeting is planned for January 6th at 12:00 UTC. There isn’t a public agenda however, recordings from earlier & upcoming meetings can be found on the eth_multicall playlist.

PeerDAS Breakout Room

EIP-7594: PeerDAS — Peer Data Availability Sampling is a networking protocol that allows beacon nodes to perform data availability sampling (DAS) to ensure that blob data has been made available while downloading only a subset of the data. PeerDAS utilizes gossip for distribution, discovery for finding peers of particular data custody, and peer requests for sampling.

A total of 13 meetings were conducted last year. Previous meeting agendas, notes, and recordings can be found in the PeerDAS folder at Breakout-Room-Meetings on ethereum/pm GitHub.

According to the Protocol Calendar, the next bi-weekly meeting is scheduled for Jan 7th at 10:00 UTC.

FOCIL Breakout Room

EIP-7805: Fork-choice enforced Inclusion Lists implements a robust mechanism to preserve Ethereum’s censorship resistance properties by guaranteeing timely transaction inclusion.

This new breakout room meeting was started last month to discuss specs implementation.

Implementation Notes

The goal should be to keep discussion strictly in Discord and on the website https://meetfocil.eth.limo. Telegram and Twitter should be avoided to help corral the discussion to a single (or two) places.

There are two cases in the execution case. When sync’d and before sync. Should the CL be notifying the EL to check the IL’s? This will be different cases for when syncing and after sync is complete. A PR will be opened to the spec to dial this in.

EL will look at specifying that if an IL is passed in then the IL should be checked, if not then the IL’s will not need to be verified to check the block. Terrence requested for @Jihoon to open a pr here? https://github.com/ethereum/execution-apis/pulls

To learn more about the proposal and related resources, visit meetfocil.eth.limo.

The FOCIL Breakout Room #2 is scheduled for January 8th at 14:00 UTC. Check the public agenda on ethereum/pm repo. Follow the detailed notes and the recording from the first meeting on the FOCIL playlist.

EOF Implementers Call

Deferred from inclusion in the Pectra upgrade, EOF proposals remain under active consideration for the following upgrade. Client implementers meet bi-weekly to share progress on implementations and work toward deploying a dedicated EOF devnet for testing these proposals.

Check notes and recording from the last meeting and the Agenda for EOF Implementers Call #64 which is planned for Jan 8th, 2025, 15:00 UTC.

EIPs Update

EIP Editing Office Hour

An office hour is being organized to help EIP authors with their questions about proposal documentation, learn how to speed up the proposal process, and find ways to prevent or resolve any blockers.

Authors are encouraged to add pull requests (PRs) to the agenda in advance for discussion during the session of the EIP Editing Office Hour 49 scheduled at 16:00 UTC.

EIP Editors’ Workshop

With the growing number of PRs, we need more reviewers. We appreciate the client developers who have shown interest in volunteering to review and edit. If you’re interested in learning how you can support EIPs, join us for the EIP Editor’s Workshop on Jan 17th, 2025 at 16:00 UTC

The meeting will be live-streamed on EthCatHerders YouTube.

EIPsInsight

So far in 2025, on new proposal, EIP-7851 Deactivate/Reactivate a Delegated EOA’s Key has been added to the repo and two marked as Stagnant — EIP-5806: Delegate transaction & EIP-7591: BLS signed transactions.

Public Goods Funding

Octant (Epoch 6)

The Octant community has been funding public goods projects in the Ethereum ecosystem for over a year. EthCatHerders has been a participant since the beginning and we’re incredibly grateful for the ongoing support. The Epoch 6 funding round kicks off in just 6 days! If you hold GLM, we’d greatly appreciate your participation.

Community Resources

Have updates about your projects or clients? Share them with us at team@ethcatherders.com by Friday (end of day EST) to be added in the next issue, scheduled for release the following Monday.

Stay Curious, Stay Connected and Keep Purring 🐾

Let’s make 2025 a year of innovation, collaboration, and purr-fection🐾 in Ethereum!

Purr-suit of Ethereum 🐾 #1 was originally published in EthCatHerders on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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