How Ethereum's Sprawling Pectra Upgrade Will Boost Its Ability to Compete - Ep. 805

As Ethereum deploys Pectra, it faces stiff competition and community criticism. Ethereum Foundation Research co-leads Alex Stokes and Barnabe Monnot map out the chain’s direction.

Ethereum is well on its way to some major upgrades, with Pectra and Fusaka introducing a number of performance improvements in the near future. But will it be enough to stay ahead of the competition?

Ethereum Foundation Research co-leads Alex Stokes and Barnabe Monnot join the show to discuss:

How Pectra and Fusaka will improve Ethereum’s performance

What it means that its launch on two testnets failed

Ethereum’s “north star” — decentralization

Whether Ethereum can retain its top spot in the smart contract space

As Ethereum adopts native rollups and data availability, does it create competition with existing L2s and DA providers?

The new direction for the Ethereum Foundation leaders and whether Etherealize can bring Wall Street

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Guest:

Alex Stokes, Co-Lead, Ethereum Foundation Research

Barnabe Monnot, Co-Lead, Ethereum Foundation Research

Previous appearances on Unchained:

5 Things to Know About Coinbase’s 2021

Links

Previous coverage on Unchained of:

Etherealize advocates for Ethereum

Why Ethereum’s New Marketing Arm Is Convinced Wall Street Will Adopt ETH

Ethereum Foundation contemplates comeback

Ethereum Is Lagging. Here’s How It Could Finally Shake Off Rival Solana

2025 Will Be a Year of Crypto Competition. Can Ethereum Make a Comeback?

What Ethena means for Ethereum

Ethena’s L1 Shows Fat Apps Are on the Rise. Can They Beat Fat Protocols?

The Chopping Block w/ Guy Young: Lessons from USD0, Ethena’s Bold Vision, and DeFi’s Future

The Pectra Upgrade

Ethereum.org: Pectra Testnet Announcement | Ethereum Foundation Blog

tim.mirror.xyz: AllCoreDevs Update 17

Ethereum.org: EIP-7691: Blob throughput increase

Ethereum.org: Holesky and Hoodi Testnet Updates | Ethereum Foundation Blog

Coindesk: Hello, Hoodi: Ethereum Welcomes a New Testnet

Fusaka on the horizon

Github: EIP-7805 proposed for Fusaka

Native rollups versus non-native rollups

Youtube: The Future of Ethereum Scaling: Native Rollups Explained

Reddit: Native rollup debates

L1 and L2 debates

Vitalik.eth.limo: Reasons to have higher L1 gas limits even in an L2-heavy Ethereum

Vitalik.eth.limo: Scaling Ethereum L1 and L2s in 2025 and beyond

Ethereum Foundation Leadership changes

X: Barnabe Monnot and Alex Stokes announcement

X: New EF titles

X: Fixing the Core Dev process

Ethena’s Converge news

John Wang’s tweet

Camila Russo’s comment

Timestamps:

👋 0:00 Intro
🪝 2:05 How Barnabe and Alex got hooked on Ethereum development
⚙️ 6:37 How Pectra will change Ethereum
🪴 10:35 How does increasing blobs boost Ethereum?
🪲 13:22 Pectra fork bugs on Holeski testnet
🔮 18:38 What’s in the upcoming Fusaka upgrade?
🤯 22:42 How decisions get made in Ethereum and which groups are involved
📈 30:34 Can Ethereum keep up with the competition?
🏁 39:16 Can Ethereum compete by scaling the L1?
🤓 44:02 What are native roll-ups and how do they help Ethereum compete?
🤺 49:26 Native rollups and expanded data availability on Ethereum vs. non-native options
⚰️ 52:22 Is Ethena building its own blockchain the “nail in the coffin” for Ethereum?
👬 1:00:05 Shaking up the EF’s leadership
🤔 1:06:14 Will Etherealize fix Ethereum’s problems?
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