Ethereum Dencun upgrade

What is dencun upgrade?

The Ethereum network has undergone a significant upgrade known as Dancun, which is a technical “hard fork” implemented in the 269,568 epoch. This upgrade, finalized in just 15 minutes, brings revolutionary changes aimed at reducing the price of transaction fees and improving the overall scalability of Ethereum. The Dancun upgrade is particularly significant because it introduces “proto-danksharding,” an innovative concept that allows Layer-2 solutions like Polygon, Arbitrum and Optimism to store transaction data outside the main chain. This not only reduces fees for users on L2 solutions, but also frees up the Ethereum network to process essential transactions. Dancun comes as the successor to the Shanghai upgrade, which enabled the withdrawal of the acquired Ether (ETH), and represents a key step in Ethereum’s evolution towards greater efficiency and affordability. With “proto-danksharding” as a harbinger to complete “danksharding,” Dancun opens the door to massive improvements in scalability, positioning Ethereum as a leading blockchain platform ready for the future of decentralized applications.

Source: cointelegraph

What is EIP-4844 ("proto-danksharding")?

EIP-4844, known as “proto-danksharding”, represents an innovative approach in the Ethereum ecosystem with the aim of improving the efficiency and scalability of storing transaction data on Layer 2 networks. This upgrade proposal introduces “blobs” of data, which will replace the currently used “calldata” transactions. “Calldata” is limited data that is stored on a chain and requires permanent maintenance by nodes, which creates a large burden on validators. With “proto-danksharding,” Ethereum is turning to using “blobs” that allow larger amounts of data to be managed outside the chain, thus freeing rollups for more scalable data storage. This new method of storing transactions is expected to reduce the load on Ethereum nodes, reduce network congestion, and optimize its size for better performance. Lower transaction prices resulting from this system will increase the usability and efficiency of applications on L2. “Blobs” are usually deleted after about two weeks, allowing validators to optimize disk space. EIP-4844 also introduces cryptographic tools like the KZG obligation scheme, which ensure that data stored in “blobs” can be verified as valid without disclosing the data itself, thereby maintaining the integrity and security of the network. This proposal is a key step towards reducing costs and increasing the availability of the Ethereum platform for widespread use.

Source: cointelegraph

Reducing fees on layer 2 networks

The Dencun upgrade represents a significant step forward in reducing fees on Layer-2 networks that are built on Ethereum. This technology allows for the grouping of transactions within L2 networks, resulting in a reduction in costs before their final transfer to the main Ethereum blockchain. A key innovation that Dencun brings is proto-danksharding, which was introduced through EIP-4844. This functionality allows L2 solutions to keep transaction data off-chain, significantly reducing costs and facilitating scaling. Proto-danksharding has thus reduced the financial burden on users and encouraged greater efficiency and speed of transactions.

Source: cointelegraph

Improved security

The Dencun upgrade brings with it several key security improvements that were not in the primary focus but were implemented as part of the upgrade. With the introduction of EIP-4788, Dencun has strengthened the communication link between the layers of consent, where validators play a key role in network protection, and the execution layer, where transactions are processed. This improved communication between layers makes Ethereum more resistant to potential attacks, as it makes it difficult to exploit weaknesses within individual layers. In addition, the EIP-6780 changes the functionality within smart contracts, some of the new features allow contracts to “self-destruct”. This change reduces the possibility of abuse of this function by attackers, thereby increasing the security of smart contracts on Ethereum.

Source: cointelegraph

How does Dencun upgrade affect users and developers?

The Dencun upgrade to Ethereum brings significant changes that directly affect users and developers. Proto-danksharding, a key element of the upgrade, reduces transaction costs for L2 solutions, thus providing users with a more economical experience, particularly when using NFTs and DeFi services. For developers, Dencun simplifies transaction management processes and consent mechanisms, leading to a better development experience. This makes it easy to build and deploy decentralized applications (DApps) on Ethereum, making the whole process faster and more intuitive. The improvements that Dencun brings not only enrich the current Ethereum ecosystem, but also fuel a wave of innovative projects. Through these changes, Dencun is bringing Ethereum closer to the goal of achieving a truly scalable and user-friendly platform, ready for wider adoption and a brighter future.

Source: cointelegraph

Ethereum roadmap

On the road to ethereum development, developers focus their work on innovations that simplify the production of blocks, such as separating proponents and executors. They also work on data availability solutions, ensuring that off-chain data can be verified even if certain validators are offline. The final goal is to implement a complete Danksharding system that will split the Ethereum blockchain into fragments (shards), with each of them processing different groups of transactions. This separation will allow for mass scalability. The next upgrade on Ethereum’s path is Petra, which brings together the Prague and Electra upgrades. While details are still the subject of debate, potential features include Verkle trees for efficient data storage and laying the foundation for “The Verge,” which aims to simplify block verification. This focus on scalability creates a path for Ethereum that will be more convenient for users. The exact time to complete Danksharding is unknown; estimates range from several years to decades. Nevertheless, the successful implementation of Dencun demonstrates the commitment of ethereum developers to continuous development. We hope you enjoyed today’s blog, we would love to hear your opinion on the recent upgrade, and what do you think the future of Ethereum is. You can share your opinion, as well as any questions or suggestions with us on our social networks (Twitter, Instagram).