How Ethereum’s coming Pectra upgrade will boost the $440bn network

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GM, Tim here.

• Ethereum’s faithful await coming Pectra upgrade.
• Solana developer builds quantum-proof feature.
• Can you still ‘make a killing’ through airdrops?

Pectra is coming

Ethereum’s next upgrade is coming early this year.

Dubbed Pectra, the set of Ethereum improvements will herald big changes to the network’s functionality, and bolster scalability and user safety.

One improvement, penned by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, will allow apps to better replicate services banks and other money-transmitting services offer, such as scheduling payments.

It will also make Ethereum safer by introducing ways for users to recover their wallets, should they lose their password-like private keys.

Other parts of the upgrade will enhance scalability by dynamically adjusting data availability.

Pectra will also lay the groundwork for Verkle Trees, a future improvement that should vastly increase the network’s decentralisation and resilience by letting users run Ethereum nodes on their phones.

The upgrade, if successful, could give Ethereum a much-needed boost. Its Ether token has lagged rivals like Solana in recent months.

Delays are not uncommon, though. Ethereum developers previously scheduled the upgrade for late 2024 before pushing it back to early 2025.

Quantum-proof Solana

A Solana developer has introduced a quantum-resistant vault to protect user funds from potential threats posed by advancements in quantum computing.

The Solana Winternitz Vault, designed by cryptography researcher Dean Little, uses a sophisticated signature system that creates a new cryptographic key for every transaction.

This reduces the risk of key compromise, which could become a vulnerability in the age of quantum computing.

The threat to blockchain technology posed by quantum computers has become a hot topic after Google unveiled its new quantum computing chip in December.

“We are about five years away from commercial quantum computers being able to break the elliptic curve keys that secure Bitcoin wallets,” quantum physicist Pierre-Luc Dallaire-Demers previously told DL News.

Airdrops get crowded

Airdrops, where crypto projects dish out valuable tokens to their early users, have provided enterprising DeFi enthusiasts the opportunity to make millions.

But according to CC2Ventures, a pseudonymous crypto personality who says he has made over seven figures from airdrops, it’s getting harder for new entrants.

“Airdrops are here to stay, but only a very select few will print and it will be increasingly hard to make a killing off them,” he told DL News.

Oversaturation of new tokens coupled with increased awareness among DeFi users has left some hopeful airdrop farmers feeling short-changed.

While many recent airdrops have fallen short of the success seen in earlier examples, it doesn’t mean future ones won’t deliver.

“There will always be outliers that will print heavily due to the market early on overlooking the opportunity,” CC2Ventures said.

This week in DeFi governance

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Post of the week

Crypto Twitter gets philosophical while trading.

In Crypto In Life. pic.twitter.com/MPPpYaYmjw

— ionicXBT (@theionicXBT) January 2, 2025

Got a tip about DeFi? Reach out at tim@dlnews.com.