Ethereum has officially launched the highly anticipated Dencun upgrade on its mainnet, introducing a new concept called “blobs” aimed at revolutionizing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of L2 transactions.
Harnessing the Power of Blobs
Multiple L2 Solutions to Benefit with Significant Reduction in Fees
ARB, OB, and Others to Follow the Update
The core of the Dencun upgrade is the integration of EIP-4844, which was activated during Epoch: 269568 (around 10 PM on March 13). This update marks the beginning of a new era for Ethereum L2 Rollup, shifting from the traditional “calldata” method to utilizing blobs for transaction publishing, resulting in significant reduction in network transaction fees.
Blobs are designed to strengthen the Ethereum ecosystem by enhancing data availability without disrupting the existing infrastructure. This clever approach is expected to lower transaction costs for various L2 solutions, including Base, Optimism, Arbitrum One, zkSync, and Starknet, among others. By establishing a dedicated fee market for blobs, low transaction fees can be maintained on the second layer even during peak congestion on the Ethereum network.
The speed of L2 integration of blobs will vary. While some may immediately adopt this innovation, others may gradually introduce blobs into their systems.
Arbitrum: Update scheduled for March 14
Optimism: To be updated
Base: Update scheduled for March 14
Blast: Reports outage due to Ethereum update causing block stoppage
The Dencun upgrade is not only about EIP-4844; it also includes eight other critical code updates that further strengthen the foundation of Ethereum. These include EIP-4788, which establishes an “enshrined oracle” to enhance interaction between Ethereum’s execution layer and consensus layer. Additionally, EIP-1153 has been introduced, focusing on transient storage, a key component for the upcoming launch of Uniswap v4.
Dencun Upgrade
Further Reading
Ethereum L2 Fees Plummet, Optimism Below $0.001, Base Near Zero Dollars
Ramble Bar: An Offline Gathering to Discuss the Dencun Upgrade