The
Ethereum
blockchains’s
biggest
upgrade
since
early
2023
went
live
on
the
second
of
three
test
networks,
bringing
the
much-anticipated
“Dencun”
project
and
its
“proto-danksharding”
feature
a
step
closer
to
reality.
Proto-danksharding
is
designed
to
reduce
the
cost
of
transactions
for
layer-2
blockchains
as
well
as
make
data
availability
cheaper,
through
the
introduction
of
a
new
compartmentalized
space
for
data
known
as
“blobs.”
The
number
of
layer-2
chains
atop
Ethereum
is
expanding
fast,
so
the
upgrade
is
seen
as
an
essential
element
of
the
ecosystem’s
roadmap
for
supporting
the
growth.
The
Dencun
upgrade
on
the
Sepolia
testnet
occurred
Thursday
at
22:51
UTC
(5:51PM
ET)
and
finalized
at
23:10
UTC.
Sepolia
is
the
second
of
three
testnets
to
run
through
a
simulation
of
Dencun.
Earlier
this
month,
Dencun
went
live
on
the
Goerli
testnet,
but
initially
failed
to
finalize.
Next
week,
on
Feb.
7,
Dencun
will
go
live
on
its
final
Ethereum
testnet,
Holesky.
After
that,
developers
will
ink
in
a
date
to
activate
Dencun
on
the
main
blockchain.
Testnets
duplicate
a
main
blockchain,
and
allow
developers
to
make
any
changes
to
the
protocol
or
to
its
decentralized
applications
in
a
low-stakes
environment.
Dencun,
which
was
originally
projected
to
happen
in
the
final
quarter
of
2023,
will
be
the
biggest
upgrade
for
Ethereum
since
the
Shapella
upgrade
last
March,
which
enabled
the
withdrawals
of
staked
ether
(ETH).