The long-awaited Shanghai and Capella upgrades are behind us — staking withdrawals are now live. This marks another milestone in Ethereum’s evolution, following its successful transition from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. But what comes next on Ethereum’s roadmap?
The answer lies in the Cancun upgrade, the next major step in Ethereum’s journey toward scalability and efficiency. At the heart of this upgrade is EIP-4844, a pivotal proposal poised to dramatically reduce Layer2 (L2) transaction costs and unlock the true potential of Rollup-based scaling.
What Is the Cancun Upgrade?
Following Ethereum’s tradition of naming upgrades after cities that host Devcon, the next network upgrade will be called Cancun. On GitHub, the cancun.md file is already being actively maintained, signaling progress toward implementation.
Originally, EIP-4844 — known as proto-danksharding — was considered for inclusion in the Shanghai upgrade. However, to avoid delays, core developers decided to prioritize withdrawal functionality and defer EIP-4844 to Cancun. Now, it stands as the central feature of the upcoming hard fork.
While other Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) are under consideration, EIP-4844 is the most anticipated. Its goal? To make L2 Rollups significantly cheaper and more scalable by addressing their biggest bottleneck: data availability costs.
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Ethereum’s Scaling Journey: Two Paths Forward
Ethereum has long faced criticism for high gas fees and limited throughput. Competitors like Solana, Aptos, and Sui have capitalized on this weakness by offering faster and cheaper transactions. To remain competitive, Ethereum must scale — and it’s pursuing two complementary strategies:
- Layer2 Rollups: Offload computation off-chain while anchoring security on Ethereum L1.
- Layer1 Sharding: Increase on-chain data capacity through structural upgrades like Danksharding.
These approaches aren’t competing — they’re synergistic. In fact, L1 sharding exists primarily to make L2 Rollups more affordable and efficient.
The Role of L2 Rollups in Ethereum’s Future
Rollups bundle hundreds of transactions off-chain, process them, then submit a compressed summary back to Ethereum. This allows users to enjoy fast, low-cost transactions while inheriting Ethereum’s robust security.
There are two main types:
- Optimistic Rollups (e.g., Arbitrum, Optimism): Use fraud proofs and have a challenge period.
- ZK-Rollups (e.g., zkSync, StarkNet): Use zero-knowledge proofs for instant finality.
Despite differences in verification mechanisms, both rely on posting transaction data to Ethereum L1 — which brings us to the core issue: costly calldata storage.
Why Are Rollup Fees Still High?
Even though execution happens off-chain, Rollups must publish their transaction data on Ethereum so validators can verify correctness. This data is stored in calldata, a part of every Ethereum transaction that every full node downloads and stores permanently.
This creates a bottleneck:
- Calldata is expensive (~16 gas per byte).
- As Rollup activity grows, so does data load on L1.
- Over 90% of Rollup fees go toward data publication costs.
Reducing this cost is essential for mass adoption.
Inside EIP-4844: The Key to Cheap Rollups
EIP-4844 introduces blobs (binary large objects) — a new type of transaction that carries temporary data blobs alongside regular transactions. These blobs are:
- Stored in the consensus layer (not execution layer),
- Not accessible to smart contracts,
- Automatically pruned after ~18 days.
This means blob data doesn’t burden nodes with permanent storage — drastically lowering costs.
Each block can include up to 6 blobs (post-upgrade), with potential expansion to 16 in future phases. This initial step — proto-danksharding — paves the way for full danksharding.
How Blobs Reduce Costs
Instead of using expensive calldata, Rollups can now use blob space to post their transaction data. Estimates suggest this could reduce L2 fees by 10x or more, potentially bringing average transaction costs below $0.001.
Additionally, blob data is fully compatible with future sharded architectures, ensuring smooth evolution toward full danksharding.
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The Roadmap: From Proto-Danksharding to Full Sharding
Ethereum’s sharding rollout is phased:
- Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844) – Current focus: Introduce blob-carrying transactions.
- Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) – Decouple block building from proposing to enhance decentralization.
- Full Danksharding – Enable 64+ data shards, massive throughput, and ultra-cheap data availability.
Cancun implements the first phase. While full sharding may take years, EIP-4844 delivers immediate benefits — making it one of the most impactful upgrades since the Merge.
Why This Matters: The L2 Rollup Explosion Is Coming
With EIP-4844, we’re not just tweaking gas prices — we’re enabling a new era of scalability.
Current State of L2 Adoption
- Total Value Locked (TVL): Over $10.4 billion, up 14% in a week (L2Beat).
- Transaction Volume: Arbitrum alone has surpassed Ethereum in daily transaction count.
- Top Players: Arbitrum (66.75% share) and Optimism dominate via Optimistic Rollups; ZK-Rollups are gaining ground but lag in TVL.
Despite current dominance by OP-Rollups, ZK technology offers stronger security and faster finality — advantages that will shine once infrastructure matures.
The Coming Shift
As ZK-proofs become more efficient and tooling improves, ZK-Rollups are expected to gain market share — especially after full danksharding enables native ZK-friendly environments.
Moreover, modular blockchain designs (like Celestia) are emerging, separating consensus, execution, and data availability — a paradigm aligned with Ethereum’s own direction.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: When is the Cancun upgrade expected?
A: Estimated for late 2025, though subject to testing and coordination.
Q: Will EIP-4844 benefit all L2s equally?
A: Yes — any Rollup posting data to Ethereum will see lower fees, regardless of type (Optimistic or ZK).
Q: Does EIP-4844 introduce sharding immediately?
A: No — it introduces blob-carrying transactions, a precursor to full sharding. True sharding comes later.
Q: Are there risks with temporary blob storage?
A: Minimal — data only needs to be available during challenge periods. Afterward, third parties (like indexers or rollup operators) can archive it if needed.
Q: How will this affect gas prices on Ethereum L1?
A: Direct impact is limited since blobs are consensus-layer only. However, reduced pressure from L2s may indirectly stabilize L1 fees.
Q: Is this the final solution for Ethereum scaling?
A: It's a major leap — but not the end. Full danksharding, PBS, and improved ZK tech will continue pushing boundaries beyond 2025.
Final Thoughts: A New Era for Ethereum Scaling
The Cancun upgrade and EIP-4844 represent more than technical improvements — they signal a turning point:
- For Ethereum: Reinforces its position as the secure foundation of Web3.
- For L2s: Unlocks exponential growth through affordable scaling.
- For Users: Enables near-free transactions without sacrificing decentralization.
- For Developers: Opens doors to innovative applications previously limited by cost.
While Optimistic Rollups lead today, ZK-Rollups are poised for long-term dominance as cryptography advances and infrastructure evolves.
And beyond Rollups themselves, ecosystems around modular blockchains, interoperability protocols, and ZK-powered apps will thrive in this new environment.
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Core Keywords:
Ethereum scaling, L2 Rollup, EIP-4844, Cancun upgrade, proto-danksharding, blob transactions, Layer2 expansion, ZK-Rollup