Ethereum’s scalability has been a significant drawback for the blockchain, its creators, and its users. Rollups and sharding have replaced state channels and sidechains in the race to address Ethereum’s scalability.

Rollups are now leading this race, successfully addressing scalability from an execution perspective. However, they are unable to resolve issues with data availability.

Now enters the Dencun upgrade, a fundamental Ethereum upgrade that incorporates “blobs” and revolves around proto-danksharding.

In this blog, let’s understand Dencun Upgrade and its 9 major Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs).

What is Dencun Upgrade?

Scheduled for March 13, 2024, the Ethereum Cancun-Deneb (Dencun) Upgrade represents a significant hard fork designed to enhance the network’s scalability, security, and user-friendliness. This upgrade incorporates key Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), such as EIP-4844, which focuses on proto-danksharding, aiming to improve network efficiency and reduce transaction costs. Building upon the successes of previous updates like the Shanghai upgrade, Dencun aims to strengthen the infrastructure for decentralized applications and elevate the overall Ethereum user experience.

At its core, the Dencun Upgrade integrates advancements from the Cancun upgrade on the execution layer and the Deneb upgrade on the consensus layer. This dual approach aims to refine Ethereum’s protocol rules and block validation procedures. The inclusion of various EIPs, particularly proto-danksharding, is geared towards enhancing scalability from various perspectives.

Main Objectives of the Upgrade

The key objectives of the Dencun Upgrade are:

• Improving scalability to handle a greater volume of transactions without sacrificing performance.
• Addressing elevated transaction costs to enhance cost-effectiveness for Ethereum users.
• Streamlining the incorporation of Layer 2 solutions, reinforcing Ethereum’s capabilities for decentralized applications and smart contracts.

The Dencun Upgrade signifies a crucial advancement in optimizing Ethereum’s infrastructure, fostering wider adoption, and supporting sustained innovation in the dynamically evolving blockchain landscape.

9 Major EIPs of Dencun Upgrade

While proto-danksharding takes center stage, the Dencun hard fork includes eight additional EIPs. Here is a concise overview of their significance for Ethereum:

Enhanced Data Availability

• Proto-danksharding (EIP-4844) introduces data blobs, elevating the throughput and efficiency of Layer 2 solutions.

Efficiency in Smart Contracts

• Temporary data storage (EIP-1153) within smart contracts, featuring new opcodes that clear intermediate data post-transaction, thereby reducing permanent storage overheads.
• EIP-6780 restricts the SELFDESTRUCT function in smart contracts under specific conditions, enhancing contract stability and predictability.
• Memory copy instruction (EIP-5656) aims to streamline memory management in the Ethereum virtual machine (EVM), leading to more efficient processing of smart contracts.

Reduced External Dependence

• EIP-4788 makes Beacon Chain’s block roots accessible to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) by storing them in a smart contract on the execution layer. Essentially, this serves as a built-in oracle on Ethereum’s mainnet, granting smart contracts direct access to the network’s consensus state without relying on external oracles.

Enhanced Validator Management and Efficiency

• EIP-7045 extends the maximum slot for including validator attestations in the Beacon Chain.
• EIP-7044 simplifies the exit process for validators and ensures their actions remain valid across future forks.
• EIP-7514 caps the churn limit for Ethereum validator activations at 8 per epoch, maintaining a stable and manageable size for the validator set.

Reliable Blob Fees

• EIP-7516 introduces the BLOBBASEFEE opcode in Ethereum, allowing smart contracts to access the current base fee for data blobs on-chain directly. This facilitates rollup contracts in managing and predicting their data blob costs more effectively.

Is the Dencun Upgrade the Answer to the Scalability Issues with Ethereum?

While it’s not the perfect answer, the Dencun upgrade brings Ethereum one step closer to achieving scalability. The EIPs, particularly the proto-danksharding, address more subtle aspects of scalability, and the upgrade also establishes a solid foundation for complete sharding that enables faster and more seamless.

Conclusion

The Ethereum Dencun Upgrade demonstrates Ethereum’s dedication to innovation and continuous growth. By improving security, streamlining the network, and tackling scalability via proto-danksharding, Dencun is poised to strengthen Ethereum’s standing as a top blockchain platform substantially. As we approach the mainnet launch on March 13, 2024, the Ethereum community is looking forward to the advantages this upgrade will offer to developers, users, and the ecosystem.

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