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| ChainFacts Team

Ethereum Dencun Upgrade: One Year of Proto-Danksharding

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It’s been nearly a year since Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade introduced proto-danksharding through EIP-4844, and the impact on the Layer 2 ecosystem has been transformative.

The Blob Revolution

Prior to Dencun, Layer 2 rollups had to post transaction data as expensive calldata on Ethereum. EIP-4844 introduced “blobs” - a new data type specifically designed for rollup data with significantly lower costs.

Impact on L2 Fees

The results have been dramatic:

  • Arbitrum: Average transaction fees dropped 90%
  • Base: Became the fastest-growing L2 by user count
  • Optimism: Saw renewed DeFi activity
  • zkSync: Reduced proof costs significantly

Adoption Metrics

Layer 2 networks have seen unprecedented growth:

  • Combined L2 TVL exceeded $40 billion
  • Daily L2 transactions surpassed Ethereum mainnet
  • New rollups launched at record pace

Looking Ahead

The success of proto-danksharding paves the way for full danksharding, which promises even greater scalability improvements. The Ethereum roadmap continues to prioritize rollup-centric scaling.

Conclusion

Dencun demonstrated that Ethereum’s modular approach to scaling can work. By making rollups cheaper and more efficient, the upgrade has accelerated the transition to a multi-chain future while preserving Ethereum’s security guarantees.