Ethereum developers are set to release the much-anticipated Dencun upgrade on Wednesday, March 13th. decryption The impact on gas costs on the Ethereum scaling network will be dramatic, with some estimating an immediate 75% reduction in gas costs.
The name is a portmanteau of Cancun and Deneb, two separate upgrades combined to create the term “Dencun”. Note for those new to Ethereum upgrades: There is nothing you need to do. Be wary of blogs, emails or Twitter (aka X) posts that tell you otherwise and ask you to click on a link or link your wallet.
Prior to the upgrade, Dencun has already been pushed live on several Ethereum testnets. However, the real push to Ethereum’s mainnet will occur later this week. This upgrade comes about a year after the Shanghai Upgrade in April 2023, which enabled users to unstake ETH through the newly upgraded proof-of-stake network.
This new upgrade aims to address key aspects of the Ethereum framework, including scalability, security, and overall user experience.
At the core of Dencun’s upgrade is the implementation of proto-danksharding, a cutting-edge concept designed to significantly reduce transaction fees and increase processing speeds across the network.
“This is the beginning of a new paradigm for how Ethereum operates,” said Karl Floersch, CEO of OP Labs, which builds the layer 2 network Optimism. decryption Early this month.
Optimizations are expected to make Ethereum a more attractive network for startups, which could add more protocols to the already busy decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.
Ethereum has long hosted the largest DeFi ecosystem as measured by number of protocols. In fact, they rarely account for less than half of the total value locked in DeFi projects. According to DeFi Llama, there are 990 Ethereum-based projects as of this writing.
The upgrade also includes several key Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) tailored to improve specific features within the network. For example, EIP-7044 introduces programmable staking termination.
Validators secure the Ethereum network by locking up 32 ETH as a pledge to keep validator clients running and process transactions. Otherwise, you will lose part of your 32 ETH due to penalty.
For users who don’t have 32 ETH to become a solo staker, there is a full staking option. This allows users to deposit any amount of Ethereum and earn a portion of the staking rewards (minus the pool fees, of course).
But what happens if the validator you staked your ETH to experiences downtime and a portion of your staked funds are cut?
EIP-7044 allows ETH validators and stakers to store instructions on when to close their positions (called permanently valid signed voluntary closures). smart contractSpecifies when this should be done.
For example, someone running a validator node might want to terminate if the hardware remains inactive for a certain number of blocks processed. This is an important safeguard because fines can be imposed if validators fail to process transactions on time.
Editor: Andrew Hayward
