Ethereum Developers Discuss Key Upgrades in Latest ACDE Call

On September 26, 2024, Ethereum protocol developers convened virtually for All Core Developers Execution (ACDE) Call #197, chaired by Ethereum Foundation (EF) Protocol Support Lead Tim Beiko, according to galaxy.com. The bi-weekly meeting focused on coordinating changes to Ethereum's execution layer (EL).

Pectra Upgrade and Devnet 3 Updates

Developers agreed to limit the scope of the Pectra upgrade to the eight Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) currently live on Devnet 3. They also considered adding four EIPs related to Ethereum’s blob fee market later in the planning process.

EF Developer Operations Engineer Parithosh Jayanthi reported a fix for a Teku-Erigon bug on Pectra Devnet 3. However, issues like a Lighthouse state root mismatch and increased block propagation times during validator deposits remain under investigation.

The team created 100,000 deposits on Devnet 3 to test network capacity, which led to increased block propagation times. Teku developer Mikhail Kalinin is working on changes to consensus layer (CL) specifications to address the issue. Planning for Pectra Devnet 4 is underway, with a launch target within two weeks.

Fusaka Upgrade and Future Plans

For the next hard fork, Fusaka, Beiko confirmed the inclusion of PeerDAS and EOF EIPs. Other EIPs may be added once implementations for these two are further along. Beiko also mentioned a new EIP for the upgrade following Osaka, nicknamed Amsterdam, which will carry over EIPs like Verkle originally considered for Osaka.

BLS MSM Benchmarks

Developers discussed repricing BLS precompiles in EIP 2537. Geth developer Jared Wasinger proposed a 20% cost increase, supported by other developers. Beiko recommended including BLS repricing in Devnet 4 and asked for benchmarking analyses to be completed by the next ACDE call.

Make Execution Requests a Sidecar

Kalinin proposed a generalized approach for EL-triggerable requests like validator withdrawals, which garnered widespread support. This proposal simplifies the process, requiring updates to EIPs 6110, 7251, 7002, and 7685. Developers agreed to prioritize these updates for Pectra Devnet 4.

Pectra Contract Audit RFP

The EF is seeking third-party audits for smart contracts used by three EIPs in Pectra. Bids should be submitted by October 11, 2024, with accepted proposals confirmed by October 22, 2024.

Pectra Split

Developers debated including a blob capacity increase in Pectra. Vitalik Buterin and EF Researcher Dankrad Feist supported the increase for scaling usage, while others cited insufficient data on node performance impacts. Beiko proposed a limited scope for Pectra, with a decision on blob-related EIPs postponed for further investigation.

Teku developer Enrico del Fante and others raised concerns about home stakers missing blocks post-Dencun due to insufficient bandwidth. Developers agreed to gather more data on the impact of blobs before making a final decision.

Beiko emphasized that finalizing Fusaka's scope should wait until PeerDAS and EOF are fully implemented on devnets. He also noted that Verkle would likely be included in the upgrade after Fusaka, nicknamed Amsterdam.

Developers aim to launch Pectra Devnet 4 before the next ACDE call in two weeks, with ongoing testing and discussions to finalize the upgrade scope.