Ethereum’s upcoming Pectra upgrade, poised to be one of the network’s most important updates, may be split into two separate hard forks due to its complexity.

This was revealed by Tim Beiko, Ethereum Foundation’s protocol support lead, on September 12.

Details of Ethereum’sPlanned Pectra Upgrade

On September 13, Christine Kim, a researcher at Galaxy Digital, explained on X that this decision stems from the extensive number of updates planned for Pectra. The upgrade could include over 20 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), with six additional updates still under review.

Kim noted that the first part of the upgrade could launch as early as February next year, with the second following in the latter half of the year.

The first phase will incorporate all elements from devnet 3, including the much-anticipated EIP 7702, backed by Vitalik Buterin. This EIP aims to enable Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to operate as smart contract wallets, increasing both security and user experience during transactions. Other upgrades in the first phase include EIP 7251 and EIP 6110, which focuses on enabling validator deposits on-chain.

The second phase will focus on implementing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) Object Format (EOF) and PeerDAS. EOF introduces an opt-in container system to optimize EVM code, marking a major step forward for Ethereum.

PeerDAS, a data availability sampling solution, uses Ethereum’s peer-to-peer components to improve data distribution and scalability, strengthening the network’s overall resilience.

Read more: Ethereum EIPs: What Are They? How Are They Implemented?

Kim pointed out that if Pectra 1 ships in early 2025 and Pectra 2 later that year, developers might revisit EIPs initially rejected for the first upgrade.

“This would be scope creep, which developers earnestly say they are trying to avoid but let’s be real. Based on how Pectra discussions have gone and are going, it’s not out of the question that they will re-discuss some of these other EIPs down the road after Pectra 1,” she added.

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Meanwhile, developers will decide next Thursday during the All Core Devs call whether to split Pectra into two upgrades. Kim suggests that the complexity of the upgrade and the desire to add more features make a split highly likely.