Top crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase will temporarily pause Ethereum (ETH) deposits and withdrawals in preparation for the network’s upcoming pectra upgrade.

Binance stated that ETH and tokens on Layer 2 networks like Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Scroll, Worldcoin, and zkSync will be affected. The exchange pause starts at 09:45 (UTC).

The exchange furthered that while trading will continue without interruption, users won’t be able to move funds in or out during the upgrade window. This action helps prevent potential issues from forks or network reorganization.

Considering this, the exchange urged users planning to bridge or withdraw assets to act before the pause begins.

Coinbase echoed the same approach, confirming that ETH transfers will be suspended as a precaution during the upgrade process.

The Brian Armstrong-led exchange stated that new staking requests will be held until after 3:45 A.M. PT, though existing staked assets will remain untouched.

Ethereum’s pectra upgrade

The Pectra upgrade represents a significant technical milestone for Ethereum. It combines proposals from the Prague and Electra upgrades to streamline the user experience and developer operations.

Pectra integrates eight Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), with one significant change drawing attention.

The notable proposal, EIP-7702, introduces account abstraction. This feature allows regular crypto wallets to behave like smart contracts. As a result, users may eventually be able to pay gas fees using tokens other than ETH.

However, the road to this upgrade has not been smooth. Ethereum developers faced finalization issues on the Holesky testnet due to bugs linked to incorrect deposit contract addresses. These caused chain splits and instability.

A separate issue on the Sepolia testnet, triggered by custom deposit contracts, also disrupted block processing.

Due to these setbacks, the developers launched a new testnet called Hoodi to finalize tests.

Following successful test runs, Ethereum core developers confirmed that the Pectra upgrade will go live later today, May 7.

Despite the upgrade’s hype and anticipation, ETH’s price has barely moved. Data from CryptoSlate shows only a 1.5% rise over the past 24 hours, with the token trading at around $1,828 as of press time.

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