Ethereum Completes Dencun Upgrade on Goerli Testnet Amid Challenges
Ethereum’s Future: Dencun Upgrade on Goerli Testnet
Despite some challenges, Ethereum developers have completed the Dencun upgrade on the Goerli testnet. The upgrade was implemented on the Goerli testnet on January 17, albeit not without some difficulties. The developers had trouble finalizing the upgrade, even though it went live at 6:32 UTC.
What is the Dencun Upgrade?
The Dencun upgrade is a combination of the Cancun and Denub upgrades, which aim at the scalability of the consensus and execution layer. Once implemented on the mainnet, the Dencun upgrade will reduce transaction costs on L2s like Arbitrum and Optimism.
EIP-4844 and Pronto-Danksharding
The main goal of the Goerli testnet was the introduction of EIP-4844, also known as Pronto-Danksharding. This mechanism is meant to make it cheaper to store off-chain data on the Ethereum blockchain. It is also the first step toward full Danksharding, which would increase transaction throughput and reduce gas fees.
Problems and Solutions
During the upgrade, the developers encountered a bug that prevented synchronization with other nodes and lasted almost four hours. Later, another Ethereum developer announced that the validators are back online and Goerli has been finalized.
The Impact of the Upgrade
After the successful upgrade, it was checked whether it had an impact on development activity. Between January 15 and 18, Ethereum’s development activity dropped from 3.56 to 2.94. This indicates that the public GitHub repositories have decreased.
The Future of Ethereum
According to experts, Pronto-Danksharding could lead to increased adoption of L2s. By storing transaction data in compressed blob formats, the storage fees could drop by up to 80%. This could trigger a new wave of Layer 2 adoption by dApps that could not interact frequently before due to high costs.
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The Next Step
After Goerli, the Ethereum Foundation has set January 30 for the Sepolia testnet. The Holesky phase is set to take place on February 7. An exact date for the Dencun mainnet is not yet fixed, but it is expected to take place before the end of the first quarter of 2024.
Sources: AMBCrypto, Santiment, L2BEAT.
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