ETH devs reveal Dencun upgrade launch date

Ethereum developers are gearing up to set a mainnet launch date for the Dencun upgrade on Feb. 8, marking a pivotal moment for the blockchain with the introduction of several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including the much-anticipated proto-danksharding.

The upgrade aims to significantly reduce transaction costs on layer-2 solutions, heralding a new era of efficiency and scalability for Ethereum.

In an update shared on Reddit on Feb. 1, core Ethereum developer Tim Beiko reflected on the successful testing of the Dencun upgrade. The All Developer Execution Call (ACDE) 180 shed light on the smooth execution of the Sepolia fork on Jan. 30 and the upcoming Holesky testnet upgrade on Feb. 7, indicating steady progress toward the mainnet launch.

As outlined in a Jan. 24 blog post by the Ethereum (ETH) Foundation, the Dencun upgrade proposes critical modifications to Ethereum’s consensus and execution layers. This follows the landmark Shapella upgrade, executed on April 12, 2023, which facilitated the unstaking of Ether and played a crucial role in attracting more institutional investors to Ethereum.

Beiko noted that should the upcoming tests continue to yield positive results; the Ethereum community could expect a manner fork time to be determined during the next All Core Developers Call (ACDC), scheduled for late next week.

Christine Kim, vice president of Research at Galaxy Digital, has pegged the likelihood of Dencun’s mainnet activation by the end of March at 80%, with a potential earlier activation by the end of February at a 40% probability.

The Goerli testnet activation of the Dencun network upgrade on Jan. 17 introduced critical EIPs, including EIP-4844. This EIP heralds the proto-dank sharding innovation, designed to drastically lower transaction fees on Ethereum layer-2s by optimizing data availability through a new data structure known as blobs.

Proto-dank sharding is a game-changer for rollups, which aggregate transactions off-chain and provide computational proof to the Ethereum blockchain by significantly reducing the cost associated with data storage and processing.

The enhancement is part of Ethereum’s ongoing evolution to improve scalability, reduce costs, and maintain its position as a leading blockchain platform for developers and users alike.