Ethereum's 'Dencun' Upgrade Goes Live on Second Testnet, With Just One Remaining
The Ethereum blockchain's largest upgrade since 2023, known as "Dencun", has gone live on the second of three test networks. The upgrade introduces "proto-danksharding", a feature designed to reduce transaction costs for layer-2 blockchains and make data availability cheaper through a new data compartment called "blobs". The Dencun upgrade is seen as crucial for supporting the rapidly expanding number of layer-2 chains on Ethereum. The upgrade was tested on the Sepolia testnet and will go live on its final Ethereum testnet, Holesky, on February 7. After this, a date will be set to activate Dencun on the main blockchain. Dencun is Ethereum's biggest upgrade since the Shapella upgrade in March 2023, which enabled the withdrawal of staked ether (ETH).
