EIP-7961: More blobs, less problems

What it does:
Doubles the amount of “blob” data Ethereum can fit in each block (from 3 to 6 blobs on average, 6 to 9 at the max).

Why it matters:
Rollups like Optimism, Arbitrum, and Base store their compressed transactions in L1 “blobs,” so doubling blob capacity boosts supply, pushing the blob base-fee down (early estimates suggest another ~50% cut vs post-Dencun levels), and, crucially, prevents the near-term data bottleneck that rising rollup demand would otherwise create, keeping L2 transactions cheap and accessible.

The builders angle:
More blobs means more runway for projects experimenting with data-intensive apps (think on-chain AI or decentralized social media). It’s like widening a highway during a population boom.

Example use cases:
- Rollups can process more transactions per second, reducing latency for DeFi and gaming.
- Data DAOs can store larger datasets on-chain, enabling new forms of collective intelligence.
- NFT marketplaces can batch mints, reducing gas wars during popular drops.

EIP-7702: A lighter path to Account Abstraction

What it does:
Introduced by Vitalik Buterin, EIP-7702 allows EOAs (Externally Owned Accounts, like MetaMask wallet) to temporarily behave like smart contract wallets during a transaction.

Why it matters:
Ethereum’s default wallet model, EOAs, with fixed public keys and private keys is simple but limited. It doesn’t support things like:
- Social recovery
- Session keys
- Multisig or 2FA
- Gas sponsorship

Smart contract wallets (like Safe or Argent) solve this, but require different infrastructure and onboarding. EIP-7702 offers a middle ground: it lets EOAs attach contract logic per transaction, without changing their base identity or requiring full migrations.

The builders angle:
Imagine users bridging assets or voting on proposals without needing separate "smart" wallets. EIP-7702 slashes onboarding friction, making Ethereum feel more like a web2 experience.

 Example use cases:
- DAO contributors could sign a transaction that verifies multiple roles or approvals
- A dApp could sponsor gas for new users without changing wallet types
- Users could enable 2FA logic for specific high-value operations

EIP-7594: PeerDAS, the next leap in Data Availability

What it does:
Changes how nodes verify data availability by introducing peer data availability sampling (PeerDAS).

This “sampling” trick allows nodes to verify blob data is really there without downloading every byte. Nodes share tiny random pieces with each other, and if the samples match, the network considers the whole blob set available.

Why it matters:
- PeerDAS lets nodes prove blob availability with lightweight sampling instead of full downloads. That slashes bandwidth/storage requirements, so more people can run nodes which leads to greater decentralization and network resilience.
- More efficient data verification paves the way for much higher blob limits in future forks, driving fees down and capacity up for data-heavy apps.

The builders angle:
Cheaper, roomier blobs make fully on-chain games, analytics-heavy DeFi, and long-winded social dApps economically viable. Think “store first, compress later,” rather than today’s “store the bare minimum.”

Example use cases:
- DAO accounting: publish quarterly balance-sheet blobs so any member can verify treasury history.
- Decentralized social: pin user posts or media hashes in blobs to guarantee availability and censorship resistance.
- Carbon marketplace: log issuance, retirement, and audit events as blobs; verifiers sample data on-chain without bulky downloads.

Other Notable Upgrades

Here are the other upgrades worth having on your radar—short, sweet, and builder-friendly:

- EIP-7251 bigger validators (up to 2048 ETH): lets staking pools and DAO treasuries roll dozens of 32-ETH keys into one mega-validator. Fewer keys means less network chatter and simpler infrastructure to maintain.

- EIP-7002 one-click validator exits: puts the “leave” button in a regular Ethereum transaction. Smart contracts (or the withdrawal address itself) can now trigger exits without shell access to the validator box which is handy for liquid-staking and custody flows.

- EIP-6110 deposit events on-chain: validator deposits are written straight into the execution layer log. Indexers, dashboards, and staking dApps can pick them up instantly without polling beacon APIs.

- EIP-7549 slimmer attestations: removes a redundant field from validator votes, letting clients aggregate signatures 64× more efficiently. Saves bandwidth and light-client storage.

- EIP-2537 BLS speed boost: adds a native precompile for BLS12-381 crypto. Bridges, zk-rollups, and threshold multisigs spend ~20 % less gas verifying signatures.

Together, these tweaks make Ethereum leaner, greener, and better aligned with the long-term roadmap toward Verkle trees, danksharding, and scalable multi-chain coordination. For the full spec list, check https://ethereum.org/en/roadmap/pectra.

Why Pectra matters to the TE Community

While the upgrades above are deep in the protocol, the ripple effects land squarely in everyday builder workflows:

For DAO-tooling teams:
- Gasless governance: use EIP-7702 to bundle “approve + vote” and cover gas for voters, lowering participation friction.
- Granular guardrails: Temporary smart-wallet logic lets treasuries set spend caps or multi-role approvals without migrating to a full Safe.

For L2 developers & rollup Operations:
- Cheaper data bills: EIP-7691’s extra blobs and PeerDAS prep slash posting costs, leaving more runway for feature work.
- Cleaner wallet UX: 7702 means fewer chain-switch pop-ups and one-click flows (e.g., bridge, swap, and stake in a single signature).

For Token Engineers & Onchain Products:
- Budget-friendly experiments: lower blob fees open space for data-heavy designs: rebasing tokens, on-chain order books, streaming payments.
- Safer protocol upgrades: bigger validators (EIP-7251) and EL-triggered exits (EIP-7002) make treasury-run validator clusters easier to manage.

For ReFi builders:
- Greener infrastructure: consolidated validators cut energy draw per staked ETH, aligning with sustainability goals.
- Audit-grade data trails: PeerDAS keeps large audit logs (carbon credits, supply-chain attestations) cheaply available and censorship-resistant.

Looking Ahead: Why Pectra is a Bridge, not a Destination

Ethereum’s scaling story is a relay race: each fork hands the baton to the next. Dencun gave roll-ups a cheap lane. Pectra widens that lane, fits regular wallets with smart-wallet training wheels, and wires up PeerDAS so that the next fork, Fusaka, can flood the network with even more blob capacity. The genius of this roadmap is the constant, incremental shipping that lets builders iterate alongside it. Pectra might feel like maintenance compared to Dencun’s fireworks, but the maintenance is exactly what keeps the fireworks safe.

Stay curious, stay building. The best infrastructure is the kind you never notice.

Converge Chain Launch: Arbitrum introduced Converge, a new chain optimized for real-world assets (RWAs) and decentralized finance (DeFi). Built by Ethena Labs and Securitize, Converge features 100ms block times, native gas tokens (USDe and USDtb), and a validator network powered by Celestia's modular architecture. It also supports smart contracts in Rust, C, and C++ via the Stylus upgrade.

Base achieves EVM Stage 1 Status: This milestone enhances Base's interoperability with Ethereum's ecosystem, potentially driving increased adoption among decentralized applications (dApps) and developers.

R1, a new Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum: Ethereum developers have implemented R1, a new L2 model for scaling Ethereum that isn’t dependent on outside investors and creates a path for new L2’s to emerge that don’t rely on perverse, extractive incentives in order to succeed.

Aztec Network launches testnet: The Aztec Network introduces a zero-knowledge rollup with opt-in privacy features. This development aims to provide users with enhanced privacy options while maintaining compatibility with Ethereum's ecosystem.

Nethermind introduces "Surge": Surge is a based rollup template built on the Taiko stack. Surge emphasizes decentralization by allowing Ethereum validators to handle transaction ordering, eliminating reliance on centralized sequencers.

Notable L2 Onchain Proposals (April)

Optimism Governance

Upgrade Proposal #14: Isthmus L1 Contracts + MT-Cannon [Passed]
This proposal outlines the implementation of MT-Cannon which removes memory constraints for the fault proof program, and introduces the Operator Fee which is the first phase of addressing the challenges in accurately pricing user fees when chains employ ZK proving, alt-DA, and custom gas tokens.

Upgrade Proposal #15: Isthmus Hard Fork [Passed]
This proposal outlines the features to be introduced with the Isthmus hard fork, which includes: L2 Withdrawals Root in Block Header, Operator Fees, and new Prague features in Isthmus.

Season 8 and 9: Budget Board Member Ratification [Passed]
The Foundation is proposing to appoint the following members to the Budget Board, to serve as representatives from May 2025 - May 2026, as per the Collective Council Framework.
Lead: Dane Lund - Founder of Lund Ventures, former Alliance DAO Core Contributor, former Grants Council Lead

Genesis Cohort - Token House Representatives
Xochitl Cazado - Chief of Staff and Head of Operations at Optimism Foundation
Michael Silberling - Data Analyst at OP Lab
Katie Garcia - Head of Operations at UDHC, formerly MKR Foundation & Token House Delegate

ZkSync Governance

[ZIP-9] V27 EVM Emulation Upgrade [Passed]
ZIP-9 proposes the V27 upgrade for ZKsync. The key features of V27 are:
- The EVM emulation, enabling the direct deployment and execution of EVM contracts on ZKsync without recompilation;
- Fflonk verifier, optimizations and security improvements.

Celo Governance

Celo Core Contracts Hotfix Security Council [Passed]
The cLabs team proposes to update the hotfix approval mechanism to use the Security Council multisig. This will replace the previous system, which relied on a quorum of elected validators, with a more agile and secure governance layer for critical upgrades.

Adding oracles to support GBP, AUD, CAD, CHF, ZAR stablecoins [Passed]
This governance proposal will whitelist the Chainlink relayer contracts required to support five new Mento stablecoins: GBP, AUD, CAD, CHF, and ZAR, based on the recent proposal from the Stabila foundation.

Scroll Governance

Euclid Upgrade [Passed]
This is the latest upgrade since Darwin, and the biggest upgrade since Scroll launched its mainnet.
Euclid contains five main changes:
- Migration to OpenVM Prover, Migration to MPT state commitment, Optimized rollup process, EIP-7702 and RIP-7212 support, and Stage-1 readiness.

L2 Security Incidents (April)

Stay up-to-date with all of the recent security incidents on Ethereum L2’s