Following the activation of Sepolia, Ethereum will be closed on the Denkun mainnet
The gradual rollout of the Denkun update continues in the Ethereum ecosystem, with no hiccups as the EIP-ported update is activated on the Sepolia testnet.
As previously reported, the Denkun network update was activated on the Goerli testnet on January 17, which introduced several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs). This includes EIP-4844, which is proto-danksharding, a highly anticipated improvement to reduce L2 transaction fees.
Related: Ethereum devs expect 10x lower package costs when Denkun update hits testnets
Unlike the activation of Dencun on Goerli, which suffered a four-hour delay due to a bug that prevented the completion of the testnet update, the Sepolia update was an event on January 30. Ethereum teacher Anthony Sassano highlighted:
Dencun, the next update of the Ethereum network, is now activated on the Sepolia testnet and has gone off without a hitch!
The next last testnet update is Holesky, and if all goes well, we can expect Denkun to launch on the mainnet sometime in March.
EIP-4844 is coming.
— sassaal.eth/acc (@sassal0x) January 31, 2024
Galaxy Digital researcher Kristen Kim noted in an X post that while the chances of Denkun's mainnet activation are increasingly good, they are still dependent on improvements to Ethereum's final Holesky testnet. The last testnet update is scheduled for February 7.
fwiw, with how smoothly Sepolia continues today, the id's chance of activating for Denkun in March is now 70%, up from 60%.
If next Wednesday's Holski update continues smoothly, the odds will only get stronger! https://t.co/c5gV6NLrmL
— Christine Kim (@christine_dkim) January 30, 2024
Ethereum Foundation DevOps member Paritosh Jayanthi highlighted Denku's unusual activation on Sepolia in an X-Post.
Blub is pouring in Sepolia now 😀
Uncreated testnet forks are the best! pic.twitter.com/Al45RZz95B
– parithosh | (@parithosh_j) January 30, 2024
Denkun's update includes significant changes to Ethereum's consensus and execution layers outlined in the Ethereum Foundation's official announcement.
Related: Ethereum Proto-Dunksharding to Make Bundles 10x Cheaper
Denkun is set to significantly impact the value of layer-2 scaling protocols in the Ethereum ecosystem. Proto-danksharding, also known as EIP-4844, aims to reduce hashing costs, hide transactions and data that would normally occur off-chain, and provide computational authentication to the Ethereum blockchain.
EIP-4844 introduces data blobs that can be sent and attached to blocks. Data stored in blobs is inaccessible to the Ethereum virtual machine and is deleted after a certain period of time, which is supposed to significantly reduce transaction costs.
Happy birthday chain chain!
Here's an updated roadmap of where Ethereum protocol development is and in what order it's coming.
(I'm sure this lacks a lot, as all diagrams have, but it covers a lot of important stuff!) pic.twitter.com/puWP7hwDlx
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) December 2, 2021
Layer-2s stands to get the most out of EIP-4844, and these scaling protocols have become an increasingly important part of the Ethereum ecosystem.
In the year Following the protocol's proof-of-stake agreement in 2022, layer-2 networks are increasingly trusted by decentralized applications and Ethereum-based platforms to provide fast, low-fee transactions. Their performance relies on layer-1 enhancements such as Denkun to reduce costs.
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