Ethereum Successfully Activates Dencun Network Upgrade on Goerli Testnet

Ethereum’s developers have effectively implemented the Dencun network upgrade on the Goerli testnet as of January 17. Following the Shapella upgrade (also known as the Shanghai upgrade) in 2023, the Dencun upgrade has been deployed by Ethereum’s development team. A significant aspect of the Dencun upgrade is the integration of EIP-4844, referred to as proto-danksharding. The primary function of proto-danksharding is to enable the temporary storage of off-chain data, thereby alleviating the storage burden on Ethereum nodes.

The implementation of proto-danksharding is expected to lead to a substantial reduction in transaction fees for decentralized applications (dApps), with a particular positive impact on Layer 2 rollup chains. Notably, the Dencun upgrade marks the final enhancement for the Goerli testnet, Ethereum’s inaugural multi-client testnet, before the development team discontinues its support.

According to the Ethereum core team, teams utilizing Goerli as a stable testnet should migrate to alternative options either three months after the Goerli Dencun activation or one month after the Dencun mainnet activation, whichever is later. The team suggests Sepolia for application and tooling developers testing decentralized applications and encourages stakers and infrastructure providers focused on protocol-level testing to use the newly launched Holesky testnet.

The name “Dencun” results from combining Ethereum’s consensus and execution layer upgrade naming conventions. While consensus layer upgrades are typically named after stars, execution layer upgrades follow the names of Devcon city locations. “Dencun” merges “Deneb,” a first-magnitude star in the Cygnus constellation, with “Cancun,” the host city for Devcon 3, reflecting the collaborative nature of the upgrade across both layers of Ethereum’s architecture.

The developers livestreamed the upgrade, and if no major issues are identified following the Goerli implementation, it will be deployed to Sepolia and Holesky. Recently, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin initiated a debate about the classification of layer 2 scaling solutions, particularly focusing on Ethereum’s validiums. Buterin contends that validiums, utilizing off-chain data storage, should not be regarded as genuine rollup solutions. This discussion within the Ethereum community becomes increasingly pertinent as Ethereum advances with the Dencun upgrade.