Ethereum (ETH) network is preparing for the Dencun update, planned for mid-March, which is expected to introduce a groundbreaking improvement called “proto-danksharding” through Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4844. The Dencun update aims to offer expanded data capacity by including off-chain ‘data blobs’ in Ethereum transactions without compromising block processing times. This development is seen as a very important step towards increasing the scalability of Layer 2 solutions on the Ethereum network. The update is expected to have a significant impact on the leading Layer 2 altcoin, Polygon (MATIC).
Dencun Update to Particularly Benefit Polygon zkEVM
Developers in the Polygon ecosystem, especially those involved with the zkEVM (zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine) network, are eagerly awaiting the impact of EIP-4844 on gas fees (transaction fees) and data availability. Following the update’s implementation, it is expected to provide cost-effective advanced data availability for Layer 2 solutions that could significantly affect the scalability of Ethereum-based applications.
Polygon, a package of scaling solutions aimed at reducing transaction fees and increasing scalability for Ethereum-based applications, uses techniques such as the Polygon PoS (Proof of Stake) sidechain and Polygon zkEVM. Among these, zkEVM is particularly expected to directly benefit from the Dencun update in terms of data availability and reduced transaction fees.
Transaction Fees Expected to Drop by 10 to 50 Times
Jordi Baylina, co-founder and technical leader of Polygon zkEVM, highlighted the current issues faced by ZK rollups, including the cost of data availability. Baylina anticipates a potential 10 to 50-fold decrease in transaction fees when the significant increase in Ethereum’s total data availability capacity is combined with data compression, underscoring the potential of EIP-4844 to reshape the environment for data capacity and transaction fees for ZK rollups. Experts and market observers expect such a reduction to attract market participants to the already low-fee altcoin network and increase the adoption of MATIC.
In preparation for the integration of EIP-4844 into Polygon zkEVM, technical changes are required to meet the specific needs of ZK rollup technology. Baylina explained the necessity of incorporating BLS pairings for cryptographic pairings introduced in the Polygon zkEVM’s Etrog hard fork in February and the use of precompiled smart contracts. Baylina emphasized the need to develop a new proof system on zkEVM to support data compression and optimize the benefits of EIP-4844 moving forward.
While Ethereum developers continue to work on bringing together all the necessary components for the mainnet activation of the Dencun update, there is a similar effort within the Polygon ecosystem to adopt and utilize the upcoming update for enhanced scalability and efficiency.
