Therium’s Dencun mainnet upgrade is scheduled for March 13, 2024, and introduces data blobs and protodanc sharding to increase network efficiency and reduce fees.
The Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol Support team has officially announced the activation of the Dencun network upgrade on the Ethereum mainnet. Scheduled to be released in epoch 269568 on March 13, 2024 at 13:55 UTC, this long-awaited upgrade promises to bring significant improvements to the network, including the introduction of temporary data blobs and a mechanism known as “protodanksharding”. do.
jump scalability and efficiency
Following the previous year’s Shapella upgrade, the Dencun upgrade includes revolutionary changes to both Ethereum’s consensus and execution layers. One of the most notable is the implementation of EIP-4844, which introduced shard blob transactions designed to reduce layer 2 (L2) transaction fees. This upgrade represents an important step in Ethereum’s ongoing journey to increase scalability and efficiency, ultimately benefiting both users and developers.
What a Dencun upgrade entails
The upgrade includes several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including:
EIP-1153: Temporary storage opcode
EIP-4788: Beacon block root in EVM
EIP-4844: Shard Blob Transactions
EIP-5656: MCOPY – memory copy command
EIP-6780: SELFDESTRUCT only in the same transaction
EIP-7044: Signed Voluntary Termination Effective in Perpetuity
EIP-7045: Increase maximum attestation-containing slots
EIP-7514: Add maximum epoch deviant limit
EIP-7516: BLOBBASEFEE opcode
The full specifications for these changes are detailed in the corresponding EIP document and in the deneb folder of the ethereum/consensus-specs repository. The upgrade also requires engine API changes that facilitate communication between consensus layer nodes and execution layer nodes.
Client release and upgrade instructions
The Ethereum Foundation has provided a list of client releases that support Dencun upgrades on the mainnet, urging node operators and stakers to upgrade their software accordingly. It is important for participants to be aware of the risks associated with running a majority of clients in an execution or settlement layer and to consider diversifying their client use.
Implications for users, node operators, and developers
For regular Ethereum users or Ether holders, no action is required regarding the upgrade. However, node operators must update their clients to the specified version to maintain compatibility with the network after the upgrade. Likewise, stakers must ensure that both beacon nodes and validator clients are updated. If you fail to participate in the upgrade, you will be left on an incompatible chain and will not be able to send Ether or operate on the updated network.
We recommend that application and tool developers review the EIP when upgrading to assess the impact on their projects. In particular, new features and potential backward compatibility of EIP-6780, EIP-7044, and EIP-7514 should be considered.
Significance of “Tenkun”
The name “Dencun” combines “Deneb”, a star in the constellation Cygnus, and “Cancun”, the site of Devcon 3, in keeping with the convention of naming upgrades after celestial bodies and Devcon locations.
The Ethereum Foundation would like to thank all contributors who played a role in bringing this important upgrade to fruition and marking another major improvement to the Ethereum network.
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