Ethereum's Proto-Danksharding: Turbocharging Rollups and Challenging L1s

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Ethereum's Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844): ❯ Turbocharges rollups (Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync + appchains) ❯ Challenges L1s (BNB Chain, Solana, Tron, Cardano, etc.) And here's the kicker: It's already in the final testing stage. Normie's explainer ↓

Let's dive into Proto-Danksharding and its effects, but first, let me clarify some key terms. Layer 1 is the foundational blockchain architecture. Layer 2, on the other hand, is an overlay network built on top of it.

Take BNB Chain and Avalanche, for instance—they may be mistakenly labeled as L2s, but they're actually EVM-compatible L1s. On the other hand, opBNB is an optimistic Ethereum rollup—a legit L2, just like Arbitrum, zkSync, or Optimism.

Danksharding and Proto-Danksharding represent Ethereum's ambitious steps towards solving the blockchain scalability puzzle. Once implemented, they have the potential to scale Ethereum to 100K+ transactions per second. Btw, Ethereum's current TPS ranges from 10 to 20.

Proto-Danksharding, also known as EIP-4844, is a key step in Ethereum’s journey to scalability that focuses on making Layer 2 transactions more cost-effective. Imagine rollups as buses that batch passengers (transactions) and travel to their destination (Ethereum).

Currently, these rollup buses have to pay a high toll (gas fees) because they use CALLDATA, which is expensive and permanent. Proto-Danksharding introduces a new, cheaper way for rollups to operate.

It creates temporary parking spots called 'data blobs' where these buses can park their data temporarily. This data doesn’t interact with Ethereum’s main engine (the EVM) and is automatically cleared after 1-3 months, reducing costs significantly.

Rollups (L2s) work by batching transactions off-chain and then posting the results to Ethereum. They are like packing a suitcase with many items (transactions) and then sending it to its destination (Ethereum) with a list (commitment) of what's inside.

This method not only saves space but ensures that if something goes wrong, there's a way to check what was in the suitcase. However, this data does not need to be available forever.

Under Proto-Danksharding rollups post the transactions they execute in data blobs. They also post a "commitment" to the data. By combining Rollups with Proto-Danksharding, all transactions become fast and inexpensive, paving the way for more speed- and cost-demanding dApps.

Verification of blob data is akin to a bus driver following a route. Rollups create a mathematical 'plan' (a polynomial function) for their data. If someone alters the route (the data), the final destination (the function outcome) won’t match, indicating a discrepancy.

This is a simple yet effective way to maintain integrity in the system. Another important element in this puzzle is KZG (Kate-Zaverucha-Goldberg). It compresses a large amount of data (blob) into a small, verifiable package (cryptographic commitment).

This process is similar to creating a miniature, detailed map of a large territory. The verifier then checks this map at some secret data points against the actual territory to ensure accuracy.

Danksharding is the full implementation of the scalability solution, expanding the Ethereum blockchain's capacity to handle a massive influx of transactions through rollups.

Think of it as upgrading from a small village road (current Ethereum) to a multi-lane highway (Danksharding), allowing for a smooth flow of hundreds of vehicles (rollups) and supporting millions of transactions per second.

In Danksharding, the number of data blobs increases from 1 in Proto-Danksharding to 64, requiring several updates in how consensus clients (like traffic control towers) manage these data blobs.

While full Danksharding is still a few years away, Proto-Danksharding is on the horizon. From the EIP-4844 readiness checklist it's clear that the major part of the development is complete and the upgrade is already in the testing stage. Check here: github.com/ethereum/pm/blob/master/Breakout-Room/4844-readiness-checklist.md#client-implementation-status

The next steps involve testing these innovations on public testnets, moving Ethereum closer to becoming a highly scalable blockchain. According to multiple sources, we can expect this upgrade to take place in Q4 2023 or Q1 2024.

Danksharding is the logical progression of two core ideas surrounding the Ethereum scaling dilemma – sharding and rollups. It's benefits will include: • Reduced transaction fees • Faster transactions • Network efficiency

At present, dApps developed on Ethereum face limitations in terms of network speed, gas fees, and overall efficiency. Danksharding aims to revolutionize the market by introducing Ethereum-based apps that run faster and have almost no gas fees to foster user adoption.

If Ethereum and its rollups can process more than 100,000 transactions per second, will there still be a need for other Layer 1 solutions?