Ethereum Prague Upgrade: Technological Transformation and Ecological Impact

The evolution of blockchain technology has seen Ethereum's periodic upgrades play a key role. Major hard forks every 1-2 years not only affect Ethereum itself but also impact the development of many Layer 2 solutions and other Layer 1 public chains. The upcoming Prague-Electra upgrade includes 11 EIP proposals, which are expected to go live on the mainnet on April 8.

This upgrade is considered the most influential since Ethereum transitioned from PoW to PoS, fundamentally changing the on-chain operating model and bringing a new experience to users. Although the upgrade content is complex and there were even fork issues on the testnet, mainstream wallets and DApps are actively adapting to ensure a smooth transition during the mainnet switch.

Upgrade Focus

1. Account Abstraction ( EIP-7702): Introduce account abstraction mechanism at the chain layer to simplify user interaction and reduce usage costs.

2. BLS12-381 curve precompiled ( EIP-2537 ): optimize cryptographic operations, improve security and computational efficiency.

3. Historical block hash storage ( EIP-2935): Provides data support for stateless clients, which is beneficial for future optimization.

4. Staking mechanism optimization: Multiple EIPs aim to enhance the staking experience, including on-chain staking processing, improvements to withdrawal triggering mechanisms, and increases in the maximum effective staking limit.

5. L2 scalability support: Adjust calldata costs, increase blob capacity, and provide more resources for the L2 ecosystem.

Impact and Outlook

The Prague upgrade, while not sparking as much widespread discussion as the previous "London" or "Merge", has laid a more solid foundation for the Ethereum network in several aspects:

• Account abstraction will significantly lower the user threshold.
• The improvement of the staking mechanism helps to reinforce network security.
• Improved data availability and throughput create greater space for the L2 ecosystem.

In the long run, this upgrade paves the way for more revolutionary improvements such as the future Verkle tree state solution and single-slot finality. Ethereum is steadily moving towards the goals of "million TPS" and higher censorship resistance.

Although Ethereum appears relatively conservative in some aspects, its clear technical roadmap and commitment to continuous optimization still keep it in a leading position in the fiercely competitive blockchain field. With the advancement of subsequent hard forks such as Osaka and Amsterdam, we have reason to expect that Ethereum will become more mature, powerful, and feature-rich.