- A recent announcement from Ethereum core developers suggests that the Dencun upgrade is still on schedule.
- The stance comes despite challenges experienced in the network’s first outing on Goerli.
- The disclosure strengthens expectations of a Q1 2024 Dencun mainnet release.
For members of the Ethereum community, 2024 promises to be an exciting year. One of the reasons for this excitement is the expected rollout of the long-anticipated Dencun upgrade, which would introduce proto-danksharding, also known as EIP-4844, marking the first step in a multi-year vision to address Ethereum’s scaling challenges.
On January 17, the Dencun upgrade finally made it to an Ethereum testnet after nearly a year of anticipation, with developers and enthusiasts hoping for a Q1 2024 mainnet release. However, bugs and challenges experienced during this testnet release had sparked concerns of further delays. These concerns have now been put to rest by a recent Ethereum Protocol Support team announcement.
Ethereum Dencun Still on Track
In December 2023, Ethereum core developers rolled out tentative dates for the Dencun upgrade to launch on Ethereum’s testnets. In line with this schedule, developers rolled out the Dencun upgrade on Goerli, Ethereum’s soon-to-be deprecated testnet for staking infrastructure and protocol level changes, on January 17. But amid a launch marred by bugs and challenges, there had been questions about how the schedule could be impacted.
In a Wednesday, January 24 announcement, however, developers have suggested that there would be no change to the Dencun upgrade schedule. The announcement confirmed that upgrades on Sepolia, Ethereum’s sandbox for testing DApps, smart contract, and EVM functionality, and Holesky, Goerli’s planned replacement, would occur as scheduled on January 30 and February 7, respectively.
More testnet blobs on the way .oO
Dencun will activate on Sepolia Jan 30, and on Holesky Feb 7. If running a node on either network, now's the time to update it!
Assuming both of these go smoothly, mainnet is next ✅https://t.co/QbEUACix2S
— timbeiko.eth ☀️ (@TimBeiko) January 25, 2024
To this end, developers have urged validators to upgrade to Dencun-supported clients on Sepolia and Holesky to ensure a smooth upgrade experience. Developers also highlighted the risks of choosing majority clients amid recent client centralization debates within the Ethereum community. The discussion has sparked fear of a single bug, causing users to lose their stake through a chain split.
Dencun’s Rocky Start on Goerli
Multiple issues plagued Dencun’s first testnet outing, including a failure to achieve finality and a chain split. Developers attributed the former to low network participation from validators, while the latter was attributed to a bug in Prysm nodes. These issues were, however, resolved in a few hours as developers confirmed that the network was finalizing again.
Finality is the guarantee that crypto transactions cannot be reversed once they are executed.
On the Flipside
- Unforeseen challenges on Sepolia and Holesky could still impact the Dencun launch timeline.
- Ethereum Layer 2 chains will benefit the most from proto-danksharding, which promises to cut fees for end users by shaving the cost of data storage on the mainnet.
Why This Matters
The Dencun upgrade is a long-anticipated upgrade that promises to bring Ethereum one step closer to solving scaling concerns. The recent announcement from developers suggests that the upgrade is still on track to launch in Q1 2024.
Read this for more on Dencun’s first outing woes:
Ethereum Dencun Upgrade Hits Snags in First Testnet Outing
Polygon’s interoperability layer is coming. Find out more:
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