Explore SCENE: The imminent arrival of Dencun is expected to significantly reduce the cost of Ethereum, as indicated by its developers. A recent blog post from the Ethereum Foundation confirmed that the upcoming Sepolia and Holesky testnets, the next crucial steps in the long-awaited upgrade, are set to be completed by early next month. This progress suggests that the upgrade is on track to go live on the mainnet by March.
The blog post outlined the schedule for the upcoming upgrades, with Sepolia scheduled for January 30 and Holesky set to be completed on a testnet by February 7. Developers emphasize that these incremental advancements are key to making Ethereum more efficient and cost-effective.
Ethereum, the underlying blockchain for the second-largest cryptocurrency, ETH, has been plagued by a congested network, making it challenging and expensive for users to build apps or conduct transactions. The developers assert that the latest upgrade, known as proto-danksharding or EIP-4844, will address the scalability issue. Notably, this upgrade is expected to enable the network to handle over 100,000 transactions per second, achieving this by significantly reducing the costs associated with Ethereum layer-2 solutions like Optimism.
Layer-2 solutions on Ethereum, where a majority of the network’s activities occur, operate parallel to the main network, allowing transactions to bypass Ethereum’s blockchain quickly. Developers believe that these improvements will make layer-2 solutions more cost-effective.
Ethereum’s continuous enhancements, including the transition from proof of work to proof of stake in 2022 with the “the merge” upgrade, reflect the platform’s commitment to staying at the forefront of blockchain technology.