Bankless: What Exactly is the Cancun Upgrade EIP-4844 Blob?

From Full Execution Sharding to Rollup

Sharding involves rotating validators randomly across different shards (subgroups) of a blockchain. Each shard is essentially its own mini-blockchain, running in parallel with the beacon chain.

Parallelizing processes in network design isn’t a new idea, and it has been on Ethereum’s agenda for quite some time.

But what’s the catch? It’s a complex shift and takes a lot of time. While Ethereum developers and researchers were deliberating on how to best implement sharding, a new contender emerged - the rollup.

Rather than breaking Ethereum’s main chain into mini-blockchains, a rollup acts like one, running “atop” Ethereum’s Layer 1, hence called Layer 2. As Vitalik wrote in his “Rollup-centric Ethereum Roadmap” in 2020:

“In my eyes, by the time (full execution sharding) eventually arrives, hardly anyone will care. Whether we like it or not, everyone has adapted to a rollup-centric world. By then, continuing on that path will be easier than trying to get everyone back on the base layer, as there’s no evident benefit and scalability is reduced by 20-100x.”

Why EIP-4844 is a Game Changer

The Ethereum community has now overwhelmingly accepted rollup as the future. But what improvements can most impact the mainnet?

Firstly, let’s briefly touch on the duties of the blockchain in the Ethereum-rollup relationship.

Ethereum’s original shard-centric vision was about expanding execution on the mainnet. Now, with execution scaling via rollup, this is no longer a priority.

Ethereum and rollups play roles in a modular blockchain architecture

The issue today?Data availability.

Rollups still need to post transaction data (as well as proofs of fraud/validity) back to L1, ensuring everyone fully understands the events in the entire network. Currently, this is a costly venture.

While rollups help scale execution, Proto-Danksharding (PDS, with EIP-4844) aims to enhance data availability through blobs.

Think of blobs as a novel tool where rollups can efficiently store transaction and proof data, saving gas when transmitting this info to the mainnet. This new transaction type offers a more efficient way for L2 to interact with L1 block space.

EIP-4844 introduces transactions with blobs. Note that DAS (Data Availability Sampling) becomes available only with full Danksharding.

Although the actual gas savings of EIP-4844 will depend on the extent of blob adoption, early estimates show a 10-100x increase in cumulative transaction costs.

Transacting on Ethereum’s L2 for just a few cents? Yes, please.

In fact, these fees could be so low they might be entirely subsidized by L2 sequencers wanting to stir some buzz in their network. Given that Arbitrum and Optimism have already initiated token incentive programs, free transactions aren’t a wild concept. Who wouldn’t want that?

The Great Decoupling

After the PDS update in EIP-4844, Ethereum’s mainnet validators will manage L1 execution and blobs (containing L2 data and settlements/proofs). The best part? For the first time, we’ll have separate fee markets for these datasets.

Before EIP-4844, L1 gas prices directly impacted rollup gas costs. After EIP-4844, the fee markets for L2 blobs and L1 execution are entirely decoupled.

This decoupling of fee markets is a primary reason Visa chose Solana for stablecoin payments.

Overhyped NFT mints on Ethereum’s mainnet will no longer affect DeFi users’ favorite rollups. Unnecessary entanglements will be history, thanks to separate fee markets.

Blobs will also inherit a “target allocation,” allocating three blobs per block at this stage. Similar to EIP-1559, Blob fees are maintained through a running count to ensure the network isn’t congested. This way, blob and L1 execution transactions can coexist harmoniously on the base chain.

What’s Next?

EIP-4844 is expected to roll out with Ethereum’s next upgrade, Dencun, possibly in January. Post this mainnet update, rollups will need some upgrades to properly construct blobs and post them to the mainnet.

Due to its complexity, Full Data Sharding (FDS) is further down Ethereum’s roadmap, but it will introduce significant enhancements:

• Data Availability Sampling (DAS) - Nodes won’t have to download entire datasets to verify their presence. They’ll merely need to randomly sample (known as “data availability checks”).

• Blocks will accommodate more blobs, and blobs can be larger, thanks to DAS.

The best part? Once FDS is here, rollups won’t need upgrades to support it—they’ll just require the EIP-4844 upgrade. With the introduction of proto-danksharding, the rollup-centric roadmap officially kicks off, laying the groundwork for Ethereum’s next chapter. So, when you’re enjoying nearly free transactions on your favorite L2 next summer, remember to tip your hat to your friendly neighborhood innovators.

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