Translation: Blockchain in Vernacular
The Ethereum Foundation has announced the final timeline for the much-anticipated Dencun network upgrade, marking a major milestone in Ethereum’s continued evolution.
The Dencun upgrade journey began with a successful activation on the Goerli testnet on January 17, 2024.
After that, upgrades to the Sepolia and Holesky testnets are scheduled for January 30 and February 7, respectively, according to the Ethereum blog.
These testnet upgrades are critical steps to ensure a smooth implementation of Dencun on the Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) mainnet.
1. What is Dencun?
Dencun represents a major upgrade to Ethereum, combining changes to both the network’s consensus and execution layers.
It introduces several enhancements, including the much-discussed EIP-4844, which introduces temporary data blobs or “protodanksharding.”
The improvement aims to reduce transaction fees for Layer 2 solutions, which is a significant development for Ethereum users.
2. Main features of Dencun upgrade
The upgrade includes several key Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including:
EIP-1153: Transient Storage Opcodes
EIP-4788: Beacon Block Root in the EVM
EIP-4844: Sharded Blob Transactions
EIP-5656: MCOPY - Memory Copy Instruction
EIP-6780: Self-destruct only within the same transaction
EIP-7044: Voluntary withdrawal of permanent valid signatures
EIP-7045: Increase the maximum proof inclusion slot
EIP-7514: Add maximum epoch churn limit
EIP-7516: Blob base fee opcode
To support the Dencun upgrade, Sepolia and Holesky have released multiple client versions, including updates to popular clients such as Lighthouse, Lodestar, Nimbus, Prysm, and Teku at the consensus layer, and updates to popular clients such as Besu, Erigon, go-ethereum, Nethermind, and Reth at the execution layer.
Impact on Ethereum Users and Developers: For most Ethereum users and ETH holders, no immediate action is required unless notified by an exchange or wallet provider.
However, node operators and stakeholders on the Sepolia and Holesky testnets will need to update their clients to the latest versions to be compatible with the upgrade.
Application and tool developers are advised to review the EIPs included in Dencun to assess their impact on existing projects.
3. Why is it called “Dencun”?
The name “Dencun” is a portmanteau of “Deneb” (a star in the Cygnus constellation) and “Cancun” (the location of Devcon 3). This naming convention follows Ethereum’s tradition of using stars to name the cities of Devcon for consensus layer upgrades and execution layer upgrades.
Looking ahead: The successful deployment of Dencun on the Sepolia and Holesky testnets will pave the way for its scheduled activation on the Ethereum mainnet.
The upgrade comes at a critical moment for Ethereum, with the potential to transform its transaction efficiency and overall network performance.
