- Ethereum developers are ready to set a launch date for the Dencun upgrade, expected to significantly enhance scalability and reduce transaction costs through proto-danksharding.
- The upgrade follows the successful Shapella upgrade and includes several major changes to Ethereum’s consensus and execution layers.
Proto-Danksharding: A Game-Changer for Ethereum
Ethereum’s journey towards greater scalability and cost efficiency is taking a significant leap forward with the upcoming Dencun upgrade. Core developer Tim Beiko recently announced that the upgrade testing has been successful, setting the stage for a mainnet launch date decision on Thursday. This upgrade is pivotal, introducing several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including the much-anticipated proto-danksharding.
Proto-danksharding, a key component of the Dencun upgrade, is designed to dramatically drive down transaction costs on Ethereum layer-2 networks. This technological advancement aims to make data availability more affordable by introducing a new form of data container known as ‘blobs’. This innovation is expected to significantly reduce the cost of rollups, which are mechanisms that batch transactions and data off-chain before submitting computational proof to the Ethereum blockchain.
Navigating Through Dencun’s Path
The Dencun upgrade, outlined in detail in a January 24 blog post by the Ethereum Foundation, includes substantial alterations to Ethereum’s consensus and execution layers. It builds on the momentum of last year’s Shapella upgrade, which was executed on the Ethereum mainnet on April 12, 2023. The Shapella upgrade, known for enabling the unstaking of Ether, played a crucial role in attracting more institutional investors to Ethereum.
Looking ahead, the next All Core Developers Call (ACDC) is scheduled for late next week, where a mainnet fork time is expected to be chosen, assuming all evaluations are positive. Christine Kim, Vice President of Research at Galaxy Digital, estimates an 80% chance of Dencun’s mainnet activation by the end of March, with a 40% possibility of it going live by the end of February.
Recent Developments and Future Outlook
The Dencun network upgrade was first activated on the Goerli testnet on January 17, bringing into play several EIPs, including EIP-4844, which enables proto-dank sharding. This move marks a significant step in Ethereum’s continuous evolution, focusing on enhancing its scalability and efficiency.
As Ethereum steadily progresses towards the Dencun upgrade, the crypto community eagerly anticipates the transformative effects it will have on transaction costs and scalability, solidifying Ethereum‘s position as a leading blockchain for decentralized applications.