The Ethereum Foundation has announced the successful launch of the Dencun network upgrade across all testnets as of February 27.
In a recent blog post, it was revealed that the eagerly awaited Dencun upgrade is scheduled to go live on the Ethereum mainnet on March 13 at 8:55 am EST.
Ethereum Dencun Upgrade Requires Staker Updates
“After its inception at ETHDenver two years ago, numerous testing calls and development networks later, protodanksharding is finally making its debut on the mainnet,” stated the Ethereum Foundation in its post.
Stakers must update their beacon nodes and validator clients to ensure they are compatible with the upgrade.
Galaxy Digital researcher Christine Kim noted, “All client teams, with the exception of Lodestar, have released final software versions for the Dencun upgrade.”
The upgrade underwent a successful test on the Holešky testnet earlier this month, following previous trials on the Goerli and Sepolia testnets.
The upgrade is poised to introduce EIP-4844: proto-danksharding to the Ethereum blockchain. Rollups will gain the ability to integrate “blobs” of data on a beacon node as per EIP-4844.
According to a post on the Ethereum Organization’s website, “The data in these blobs is not accessible to the EVM and is automatically deleted after a fixed time period (1-3 months).” This allows rollups to transmit their data more affordably, leading to cost savings for end users through reduced transaction fees.
Dencun, the name chosen for the upgrade, is a combination of star and Devcon city names, as explained by the Ethereum Foundation. It merges “Deneb,” symbolizing a star, with the location of Devcon 3, which was held in Cancun.
Ethereum is Growing
In a recent blog post, crypto asset manager Grayscale highlighted the significance of the Dencun upgrade as one of several factors propelling Ethereum into its maturation phase. They emphasized that the upgrade would contribute to making Ethereum a “more scalable, efficient, and user-friendly platform.”
“Despite facing growing competition, Ethereum benefits from various favorable factors, including network effects and substantial network revenue, the Dencun upgrade, a thriving Layer 2 ecosystem, and expanding use cases for its security budget,” stated Grayscale. “Furthermore, the potential introduction of a spot Ethereum ETF could raise awareness of ETH as an asset among both institutional investors and the broader public.”
