Pectra is an upgrade to the Ethereum protocol composed of Prague (Execution Layer) and Electra (Consensus Layer) which will activate soon on testnets and mainnet. It contains consensus changes which, by default, would cause all OP Stack chains to halt. In particular:

• a new transaction type (and corresponding receipt type) is introduced by EIP-7702.
• a new field in the block header is introduced by EIP-7685

Upgrade 12 is a maintenance upgrade which consists of changes to

• Node software
• Optimism protocol specifications and
• L1 Fault Proofs smart contract system(s) to elegantly handle activation of the Pectra hardfork on L1 networks.

The expected outcome is that OP Stack chains continue to operate as before (they do not halt) when Pectra activates on their respective L1 chains. This is a critical piece of maintenance affecting all operators and users of OP Stack chains.

Key Dates

• Activation of Pectra on Holesky: 24th February 2025
• Activation of Pectra on Sepolia: 5th March 2025
• Activation of Pectra on Mainnet: 8th April 2025 (provisional)

Read the Maintenance Upgrade proposal in its entirety here.

This is an optimistic approval. Voters will be asked to vote for, against, or abstain. The proposal will automatically pass unless 12% of votable supply vote against. The proposal will concurrently be in the citizens house during this optimistic approval window. You can read more about this proposal type in our operating manual.