Ethereum's Pectra upgrade launches on the Holesky testnet today at 9:55 pm UTC, introducing new validator rewards, account abstraction, and layer-2 scaling improvements. Following the previous Dencun upgrade, the Pectra upgrade aims to enhance Ethereum's functionality significantly. Key features include EIP-3074, allowing externally owned accounts to execute batch transactions and enabling gas sponsorship, letting users transact without Ether. Additionally, Ethereum's blob capacity will increase by 50%, facilitating cheaper transactions on layer-2 networks. Validators will also see an increase in the maximum balance eligible for rewards, expanding from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH. After deploying Pectra on Holesky, a similar upgrade will occur on Sepolia on March 5, with a mainnet activation to follow. The Ethereum Foundation emphasizes that Pectra marks a significant advancement towards account abstraction and scaling improvements, reflecting the developers' commitment to accelerating the network's roadmap.

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