The Ethereum Cancun Upgrade:
The Ethereum Cancun upgrade is a significant advancement within the Ethereum network aimed at enhancing scalability, security, and efficiency. This upgrade introduces the concept of proto-danksharding, which represents the final phase of the Ethereum 2.0 (Serenity) upgrade. Danksharding focuses on optimizing data management and transaction processing within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Understanding the Ethereum Cancun Upgrade:
The Ethereum Cancun upgrade, also known as the “Cancun-Deneb” upgrade, is based on four Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs): EIP-4844, EIP-1153, EIP-4788, and EIP-6780. These proposals aim to improve scalability, enhance data storage and availability, and reduce transaction costs within the network.
With a primary focus on optimizing Layer 1 execution, the Cancun upgrade prepares the network for full data sharding implementation in the future. Sharding involves splitting the blockchain database into smaller shards for increased efficiency. The introduction of proto-danksharding in this upgrade is a crucial step towards achieving higher transaction speeds and lower costs.
Danksharding and Proto-Danksharding:
Danksharding, named after Ethereum researcher Dankrad Feist, is a type of sharding that concentrates on optimizing data availability for rollups in the Ethereum network. Proto-danksharding serves as a prototype of danksharding introduced by EIP-4844. It aims to reduce gas fees associated with rollups before full danksharding implementation.
Benefits of the Ethereum Cancun Upgrade:
The Ethereum Cancun upgrade offers various benefits to the network:
Enhanced Scalability: Proto-danksharding introduces temporary data storage capacity to process more transactions per second.
Reduced Transaction Costs: Blob-carrying transactions allow additional data in transactions more cost-effectively.
Improved Data Management: EIPs optimize block space and reduce on-chain data storage costs.
