Ethereum’s Holesky testnet achieved a significant milestone on Monday by reaching finality, nearly two weeks following the deployment of the Pectra upgrade.
Epoch 119,090 confirmed this success at approximately 19:00 UTC, with over two-thirds of validators contributing to the network’s validation process. An epoch marks a defined period where a certain number of blocks is finalized on the Ethereum blockchain.
The absence of finality since February 24 was due to a configuration bug within the client software, not as a direct result of the Pectra upgrade. Finality is crucial as it locks transactions irrevocably across two epochs, typically taking around 13 minutes.
In the weeks leading up to this achievement, development teams worked diligently to restore functionality to the testnet. Current efforts focus on stabilizing nodes and pruning outdated states to fully prepare the Holesky network for ongoing Pectra testing.
Meanwhile, the Sepolia testnet, which also incorporated the Pectra upgrade, initially achieved finality but subsequently encountered challenges in processing due to empty blocks resulting from a compromised deposit contract. An attacker manipulated this flaw by executing zero-token transfers, as highlighted by Ethereum developers, an issue that has since been rectified by client teams.
Looking ahead, the Pectra upgrade signifies pivotal advancements for Ethereum, introducing capabilities such as gas payments in non-ETH tokens, account abstraction, and elevated staking limits. These improvements are poised to enhance the overall functionality and user experience within the Ethereum ecosystem.
