Today, Ethereum’s founder presented a fresh proposal to the community, as the timeline for the upcoming upgrades on test networks becomes clearer. Despite the ongoing downturn in the cryptocurrency markets, the Ethereum 
$2,369 network continues to advance. Recently, we discussed the changes brought by the Pectra update in detail. What suggestions does Vitalik have, and when will the new update be implemented on the test networks?
Pectra Upgrade
The Pectra network upgrade is expected to be activated soon on Ethereum’s test networks. After trials on two test networks, it will be rolled out on the main network.
In Holesky, the update will be activated at epoch 115968 on February 25 at 00:55, and in Sepolia, at epoch 222464 on March 5 at 10:29, to assess whether any issues arise.
Ethereum Layer 1 Scaling
Recently, the gas limit on the Ethereum network was increased from 30 million to 36 million, raising its capacity by 20%. In today’s assessment, Vitalik Buterin discussed whether these higher limits are the right approach. Indeed, as it is more challenging to reverse these limits than to increase them, we are discussing something that requires a solution before any increments.
Ethereum adopts a Rollup-centric approach for scaling, processing transactions in their sub-networks and sending summarized information to the main Ethereum network. Vitalik advocates for increasing Layer 1 capacity to foster simpler and more secure applications while maintaining resistance to censorship and decentralization. He sets a long-term goal of achieving a tenfold scaling in Layer 1.
Critics argue that sub-networks have overshadowed Ethereum and negatively impacted Ether’s performance. For this reason, Vitalik Buterin believes relying solely on Layer 2 solutions for scaling isn’t a viable option for Ethereum.
Accordingly, while main network scaling efforts will continue, the gas limit is set to be increased tenfold. By enhancing Layer 1’s capacity, Buterin aims to create a more secure, censorship-resistant, and sustainable ecosystem for Ethereum, potentially rekindling interest in Ether.
With an environment where more transactions per block can be processed, fees are expected to decrease to reasonable levels. However, if demand increases at the same rate, further improvements will be necessary. A crucial detail here is allowing the Ethereum main network to compete reasonably with Layer 2 solutions to increase its functionality and user interest.
