Ethereum's Pectra Upgrade Delayed by Consensus Bug

Ethereum developers have postponed the upgrade of the public testnet due to a new consensus bug discovered on the Pectra Devnet 5, which affects users of the Nethermind client. The bug, stemming from BLS precompile optimization, has been resolved, and the launch of Devnet 6 is expected to proceed as planned. Developers have reassured stakeholders that the bug will not cause any delays for the forthcoming Devnet 6 launch.

In addition to the Pectra upgrade, ongoing discussions at the 204th All Core Developers’ Meeting (ACDE) revealed a critical security vulnerability in the Geth client. Nodes utilizing Geth version 1.14 or later are urged to upgrade immediately to mitigate risks associated with potential disruptions to Ethereum’s peer-to-peer infrastructure and Layer-2 solutions.

The Pectra upgrade schedule outlines key dates, including the Devnet 6 launch during the week of February 3rd and critical decisions concerning the Holesky and Sepolia testnet upgrades slated for February 6th. Developers plan to discuss the testnet upgrade time again at next week’s ACD meeting, with the official announcement of the testnet upgrade expected around February 10th or 11th.

The Holesky testnet upgrade is planned for around February 19th, followed by the decision on Ethereum mainnet upgrade timing on February 20th. The Sepolia testnet upgrade is planned for around February 26th, approximately one week after the Holesky upgrade. The final version of the mainnet upgrade is expected to be released on February 27th or 28th, with the Ethereum mainnet upgrade scheduled for mid-March.