<b>Top 5 Ethereum Upgrades in 2025</b> <ol> <li><b>Scalability:</b> Enhancements to increase the transaction throughput of the Ethereum network.</li> <li><b>Security:</b> Improvements focused on strengthening the security of the platform and smart co

Original Article Title: Ethereum Upgrades to Watch in 2025

Original Article Author: Kazu Umemoto, Bankless

Original Article Translation: Fu Ruhe, Odaily Planet Daily

In 2024, Ethereum introduced blob space through the Dencun upgrade, advancing the Rollup-centric development direction significantly and helping L2 reduce transaction costs by 10x to 100x.

Which Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) and Ethereum Request for Comments (ERCs) are worth paying attention to in 2025?

This article will list five Ethereum upgrade features to watch, some of which are set to go live in the Pectra upgrade, while others will take longer to realize but have garnered attention from notable supporters.

EIP-3074

A key improvement highlighted in the Pectra upgrade is EIP-3074. Users can bundle multiple transactions into one, projects can sponsor user transactions and pay their Gas fees, and a new way to recover wallets in case of lost private keys has been added.

EIP-3074 introduces a new Ethereum opcode. This system will allow EOA users to authorize smart contracts to execute operations on their behalf in a single transaction while maintaining the security and control of not permanently transferring the private key.

These new opcodes enable the following user-friendly utilities:

· Transaction Batching—Batching multiple transactions (such as multiple token transfers) into a single operation.

· Sponsored Transactions—The ability for a third party to pay for transactions, opening up new avenues for applications to pay Gas fees for their users.

· Conditional Transactions—Complex transaction structures where multiple steps can be linked and conditionally executed, such as transactions that execute only if certain conditions are met without needing separate transactions for each step.

· Meta Transactions—The ability to sign transactions that can be submitted by another party, for example, signing transactions offline or from another interface without requiring ETH for Gas.

· Delegated Security—By allowing trusted callers to manage transactions, users can benefit from advanced security models such as models involving multisig setups.

EIP-3074 is the next significant step in the future development of the Ethereum account model. It serves as a short-term remediation before the rise of ERC-4337, but with a significant improvement in user experience (UX).

EIP-7251

For validators holding a significant amount of ETH, EIP-7251 is undoubtedly a high-value proposition. It allows validators to receive additional staking rewards beyond the standard 32 ETH staking threshold. Previously, any staked amount above 32 ETH remained idle. Validators seeking to stake additional ETH had to set up a new validation node and stake an additional 32 ETH. Through EIP-7251, validators can use a single validation node to stake all their held ETH.

This improvement is expected to attract large institutions to operate their own validation nodes, further engaging in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Additionally, as part of the Pectra upgrade, this proposal may also enhance the Ethereum network's performance through the integration of validation nodes. For example, projects like Lido can reduce the number of running validation nodes and earn rewards on top of the base staking amount of over 32 ETH.

EIP-7002

As part of the Pectra upgrade, EIP-7002 addresses some significant risk issues in validation node operation.

For instance, if you wish to receive rewards for running a validation node but do not wish to deal with the complexity, you can delegate this task to a validation node operator and provide them with the validation key (used for block validation and proposing). However, when you want to withdraw ETH, you must use the validation key to sign a "voluntary exit message" to complete the operation. If the operator intentionally refuses to sign this message or if the validation key is compromised, your ETH could be maliciously withheld or even held for ransom.

EIP-7002 provides a solution that allows stakers to withdraw ETH simply by withdrawing the key. This improvement eliminates the risk of malicious operators refusing to sign exit messages and reduces the likelihood of ETH being held if the validation key is leaked.

ERC-7683

Intent has been a hot topic in DeFi discussions over the past few years. ERC-7683 is a token standard designed to directly address cross-chain interoperability issues and define a shared structure for cross-chain intent. This standard is "like a bill of exchange that anyone can create and any resolver can fulfill."

ERC-7683 was first proposed in 2024 and co-authored by Uniswap and Across Protocol. ERC-7683 aims to standardize Intents, bringing multiple benefits to the Ethereum ecosystem:

· Unify Ethereum: Establish a common standard for cross-chain operations across L2 and sidechains, supporting Ethereum's goal as a leading decentralized application platform.

· Achieve Interoperability: Standardize order and settlement interfaces to enable seamless cross-chain execution.

· Eliminate Fragmentation: Provide a universal framework for coordinating disparate systems to achieve smoother cross-chain operations.

· Enhance User Experience: Provide users with a simplified, intuitive, frictionless cross-chain interaction.

· Increase Liquidity: Allow DApps to access cross-chain shared liquidity pools, providing deeper liquidity.

· Accelerate Transactions: Reduce failure rates and speed up transaction times by facilitating competition among fillers.

· Drive Innovation: Change the cross-chain landscape by promoting collaboration and encouraging innovative solutions on Ethereum.

ERC-7841

ERC-7841 is a novel token standard that introduces a low-level messaging format and API for applications to send messages to and receive messages from other chains.

1. ERC-7841 abstracts chain-specific logic from applications, allowing the same application to be deployed on multiple chains without changing how it sends/receives messages.

2. ERC-7841 is a modular foundation that only specifies the information needed to route messages between applications. This enables specific message types (e.g., bridging or intent messages) to be flexibly built on top of a single interface rather than per message type.

3. ERC-7841 is compatible with both synchronous messaging protocols (such as CIRC) and asynchronous messaging protocols (like most existing protocols and CIRC).

While there are other EIPs with similar interoperability goals at their core, the ongoing discussions sparked by ERC-7841 highlight a strong momentum in the interoperability space.

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