Ethereum Dencun Upgrade Went Live

Ethereum, the blockchain platform often hailed as the beacon of decentralization and innovation, underwent a monumental transformation with the activation of its long-awaited "Dencun" upgrade on March 13, 2024. This hard fork holds promises of catalyzing growth across layer-2 networks by slashing fees and enhancing efficiency.

In this article, we will look in more detail at the much-anticipated upgrade. 

What is in the Dencun upgrade?

These are the Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) that were included:

• 5656 - modifies the EVM code; 

• 4788 - reveals the origins of the beacon chain blocks within the EVM, granting access to the consensus layer in a trust-minimized fashion;

• 1153 - improves communication between contracts and makes on-chain data storage less expensive.

• 6780 - changes selfdestruct opcode (it will transfer the account balance to the caller instead of deleting code and storage).

• 4844 - introduces proto-danksharding.

What is proto-danksharding?

Danksharding is a part of the huge ETH2/Serenity upgrade. The innovative sharding framework, which has been streamlined, will entirely supplant the initial concept of utilizing shard chains to enable a higher capacity.

Rather than prioritizing volume, danksharding concentrates on enhancing data accessibility for rollups. This stage of the blockchain’s development only introduces the early version of the technology. It is supposed to lower gas fees until full sharding is implemented.

The developers plan to do this by using "blobs," which are bundles of information. The main advantage of this new way of handling transactions is that it is cheaper. Layer-2 networks like Arbitrum and Optimism can now send data to Ethereum more quickly. This should lead to lower transaction fees, improve the user experience, and encourage more people to use Ethereum.

Additionally, the Dencun upgrade also helps data availability layers, like Celestia, store and retrieve transaction data more smoothly. By integrating proto-danksharding, it aims to reduce the costs associated with these solutions, making the blockchain ecosystem more sustainable and inclusive.

Conclusion

By harnessing the transformative power of proto-danksharding, Ethereum lays the groundwork for a future characterized by efficiency and scalability. As blockchain technology evolves, Dencun can be seen as another stepping stone towards further decentralization.