Countdown to Ethereum’s highly anticipated “Dencun Upgrade” (Deneb+Cancun)! Earlier this year, the upgrade completed testing on the Sepolia and Holesky testnets. The schedule for the mainnet upgrade has been confirmed for March 13th at 21:55 Taiwan time.
Many believe that this upgrade could have a significant impact on the development of the Ethereum ecosystem. It is considered the most important major update since the “Shanghai Upgrade” in 2023. As a result, many projects and investors are closely following this upgrade.
What is the key focus of the Ethereum Cancun Upgrade and why is it so important? “WEB3+” interviewed Hsiao-Wei Wang, a core developer involved in the Dencun Upgrade, to decrypt the major highlights of this upgrade.
The Ethereum Cancun Upgrade, which has attracted much attention, was interviewed by “WEB3+” with Hsiao-Wei Wang, a core developer of the Ethereum Cancun Upgrade, decrypting the major highlights of this upgrade.
What is the Ethereum Cancun Upgrade?
Just like how mobile phones and computer systems undergo screen redesigns, add new features, or fix bugs through version updates to improve user experience, the Ethereum system also needs to be updated and maintained.
Since the release of the Ethereum white paper in 2013, there have been 12 major upgrade events, each named after a different city in different countries, such as the Shanghai Upgrade and the Paris Upgrade. This time, the upgrade is named after the famous tourist city of Cancun in Mexico.
This upgrade will include five Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including EIP-4844 (introducing a new transaction type called “blob”), EIP-1153 (allowing smart contracts to store data in real-time), and EIP-4788 (beneficial for DApp security).
The most anticipated proposal of this upgrade is EIP-4844.
This time, the upgrade is named after the famous tourist city of Cancun in Mexico.
Why is EIP-4844 so important?
If we imagine the blockchain as a highway, the current Ethereum highway is facing severe traffic congestion. Therefore, by building a second layer of expressway or overpass, known as the “Layer2 chain,” the expressway can become wider.
However, even with the overpass, there is still heavy traffic, and regardless of whether it is high-capacity vehicles, trucks, or empty vehicles passing through toll booths, a toll fee must be paid. EIP-4844 will make this toll fee cheaper.
Currently, the second layer blockchain processes millions of transactions every day and sends back transaction proofs to Ethereum. Therefore, data storage and transaction costs are the biggest challenges.
Hsiao-Wei Wang stated that EIP-4844 introduces a new type of transaction called “blob.” Since blob can greatly increase the amount of stored data, the data capacity of each block in Layer2 will increase, making transaction fees cheaper.
This proposal not only reduces the cost of Ethereum Layer2, improves efficiency, but also plays a crucial role in Ethereum’s further scalability and enhances its competitiveness on Layer2.
Even with the overpass, there is still heavy traffic, and regardless of whether it is high-capacity vehicles, trucks, or empty vehicles passing through toll booths, a toll fee must be paid. EIP-4844 will make this toll fee cheaper.
Ethereum Upgrade Delayed! What are the challenges?
The highly anticipated Ethereum Cancun Upgrade was originally scheduled for the end of 2023. However, before the official upgrade, it must undergo rigorous testing on various testnets, leading to continuous delays in the mainnet upgrade.
These testnets are mainly used to simulate the behavior of the Ethereum mainnet, allowing developers to test contract and protocol changes without disrupting the Ethereum mainnet or using real currency.
Therefore, significant changes to the Ethereum protocol are also tested on these testnets.
Hsiao-Wei Wang gave an example that during testing on the Goerli testnet, the team discovered a bug, showcasing the importance of prior testing on testnets.
There is a lot of preparation to be done before deploying to the mainnet, including software code across Ethereum execution and consensus layers, and multiple client teams. Additionally, the most challenging and unique aspect of this upgrade is that most of the changes belong to the P2P network layer. Therefore, there are more factors to consider during testing.
During testing on the Goerli testnet, the team discovered a bug, showcasing the importance of prior testing on testnets.
Hsiao-Wei Wang stated that previous updates mostly involved changes in Ethereum’s consensus, and developers were confident about the results affecting the blockchain’s state, allowing for quick and intuitive testing.
However, network testing involves a large number of users and requires stress testing on multiple test chains, as well as linking between different clients. The variables are larger in comparison, and the team has accumulated a lot of testing experience. “Testing time is really precious because the testing time for each testnet is fixed. Overall, taking the opportunity to test more times is more beneficial than harmful.”
Regardless, Ethereum’s upgrade is expected to bring more efficient and cheaper transactions to the blockchain world. Many users are looking forward to this upgrade becoming a crucial key to shaping the Ethereum ecosystem and driving the entire industry towards a more prosperous future.
Proofreading Editor: Gao Jingyuan