Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade was launched as scheduled on the Goerli testnet today, but it encountered some challenges. Core developer Tim Beiko pointed out that although the upgrade has been implemented, there are not many validators participating, and there is a chain split issue that is currently being investigated.
(Background:
Ethereum Goerli Testnet “Launched Kan Kun Upgrade on 1/17”, Mainnet Expected by the End of February
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(Background:
What is the EIP4844 Blob in Ethereum’s Kan Kun Upgrade Core? How can it reduce costs by 100 times?
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On December 22nd last year, Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko announced on X that the next major upgrade of Ethereum, Dencun, will first be launched on the Goerli testnet on January 17th, with the Sepolia and Holesky testnets tentatively scheduled for January 30th and February 7th, respectively. If the upgrades on the three testnets go smoothly, the Dencun upgrade on the mainnet is expected to arrive by the end of February.
As scheduled, Tim Beiko announced today on X that the Ethereum Goerli testnet has completed the Dencun hard fork upgrade. He stated that although there are not many validators participating in the upgrade, this is expected, and there have been some blobs sent on the network. However, most of the blobs currently being sent are empty.
Blobs are a new transaction format introduced by EIP-4844 (protodanksharding) for “temporary” storage of transaction data (blobs can be deleted after 18 days), enhancing Ethereum’s data storage capacity and potentially further reducing transaction fees on the second layer network.
In response to this, Tim Beiko stated that if there are no more validators participating in the upgrade, “non-finality tests” may be conducted to understand how the network will operate with low validator participation.
Furthermore, Tim Beiko pointed out that there is currently a chain split issue, which means that different nodes (or validators) have different versions of the transaction history on the blockchain. The development team is investigating this issue and will provide further details in the future.
In summary, the Dencun upgrade encountered some challenges on the Goerli testnet, including low participation and chain split issues, which require further testing and investigation by the development team.
Goerli testnet upgrade receives significant attention
The Goerli testnet upgrade has received significant attention because Goerli has the highest number of participants and network load after the Ethereum mainnet. Therefore, the successful launch of the Dencun upgrade on Goerli represents that the official launch of the Dencun upgrade on the Ethereum mainnet is getting closer.
Previously, some developers were concerned about the short interval between the upgrades of the Goerli testnet and the Sepolia testnet, which could lead to upgrade failures due to insufficient time to observe any issues. In response, X account Lightclients stated that Ethereum core developer execution meeting (ACDE) #179 is scheduled to be held tomorrow. If any issues occur on the Goerli testnet within 24 hours after the upgrade, developers will have the opportunity to review the subsequent schedule.
Furthermore, Dencun will be the final upgrade for the Goerli testnet. After the mainnet launches the Dencun upgrade, client and Ethereum Foundation test teams will stop supporting the Goerli testnet. For more information, please refer to the Ethereum Foundation article.