Ethereum’s highly anticipated Pectra upgrade is tentatively scheduled to go live on the mainnet on April 30.
The date was discussed during the All Core Developers Execution (ACDE) call #208 on March 27, with Tim Beiko of the Ethereum Foundation confirming on X that the team is aiming for mainnet activation at slot 11,599,872, around 14:14:47 UTC.
Beiko noted that infrastructure and application teams would be notified in advance to address any potential concerns. He added that the upgrade coordination will follow a structured process modeled after Fredrik’s fork coordination method.
The timeline is still subject to final approval, with confirmation expected during the next ACDC meeting.
The Pectra upgrade merges improvements from two earlier proposals — Prague and Electra — to deliver a more streamlined and efficient Ethereum experience. These enhancements aim to optimize user interactions and developer workflows across the network.
Hoodi testnet finalization
The decision to move forward with the April launch comes just a day after Pectra achieved full finalization on the Hoodi testnet.
The success marks a significant milestone for the upgrade, especially after earlier delays on other testnets like Holesky and Sepolia.
On March 26, Ethereum client Nethermind confirmed that Pectra had finalized on Hoodi with all upgrade features in place. According to the firm, the successful deployment marked a key step toward bringing the upgrade to Ethereum’s mainnet.
Hoodi was introduced as a replacement for Holesky, which faced persistent issues that delayed Pectra’s rollout.
In one instance, Holesky suffered from execution client bugs due to incorrect deposit contract addresses, causing chain splits and network instability.
At the same time, Sepolia, another Ethereum testnet, also experienced brief problems, with custom deposit contracts disrupting execution clients and affecting block transactions.
While the issues on Sepolia were resolved, Holesky continued to struggle — resulting in developers replacing it with Hoodi, which has performed reliably since its launch.
Due to the recurring problems, the Ethereum Foundation has confirmed that support for Holesky will end by September 2025.
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