Danksharding: Ethereum’s New Design

[TL; DR]

The current Ethereum network deploys the Proof of Work (PoW) protocol making the transaction processing slow.

To reduce the transaction fees and improve scalability, the Layer 2 networks were launched.

These layer two networks include Rollup, Optimism, Arbitrum, and zkSync.

These layer two networks are built to enable the blockchain protocol (Ethereum) to process large data volumes.

The reason for deploying the Layer 2 networks is to ease the burden on the mainnet network.

Sharding combines all features and mechanisms of these layer two networks.

Till now, Sharding has not been integrated into the Ethereum network. However, Danksharding is an advanced Shardung and will be integrated as soon as possible.

Danksharding is the new and robust design proposal for Sharding on Ethereum.

Danksharding is a scalability design named after Dankrad Feist.

Danksharding will take a similar principle as Sharding by splitting networks into shards and increasing the space for data transactions.

There are expectations that Danksharding will transition the Ethereum blockchain into an agreeable settlement and data availability layer.

Danksharding will implement all the features of Sharding and deploy the data availability sampling technique.

The Danksharding design is still developing, but the Proto-Danksharding is in its prototype phase and will be launched soon.

Keywords: Sharding, Danksharding, Ethereum, scalability, transactions, blockchain, design.

[Full Article]

The Ethereum network is known for always having one update feature or the other in its development or testing stage. Ethereum developers are always looking for ways to improve the scalability feature of the network.

Even though the Ethereum network has one of the best scalable features and processes transactions faster with lower transaction fees than other blockchain protocols, the developers are not relenting in ensuring that they improve on these features.

On this improvement basis, Ethereum is working on a new design called Danksharding.

This article will explain everything about Danksharding and how it is expected to improve the Ethereum protocol.

Let’s begin!

What Necessitated Danksharding?

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Image: The TIE Research

The Ethereum network still uses the proof of Work (PoW) mechanism, making the network's mainnet slow in processing transactions and attracting high transaction fees. To get rid of these issues, such as slow transaction speed and high gas fees, the layer two networks were launched to the Ethereum network.

These Ethereum Layer 2 networks include Rollup, Optimism, Arbitrum, and zkSync. They are companion systems developed to help blockchain systems handle large data volumes. In this contest, they are designed to ease the burden on the Ethereum mainnet network.

The combination of these Layer 2 networks is called Sharding. However, Sharding is a more robust mechanism and has been challenging to implement on the Ethereum Network. So instead of waiting until it is implemented, Ethereum users prefer to use these Layer 2 networks because developers believe they are the best and most secure way for Ethereum to scale.

For instance, Rollups like Sidechains relieve the stress of Ethereum by verifying the validity of transactions and executing them on a separate blockchain. Such trades are settled on the rollup chain, bundled up, and then posted to Ethereum (while still using Ethereum's mainnet security).

Since these layer two networks have proven to be up to the task and are being deployed efficiently during transactions, Ethereum developers are no longer prioritizing Sharding. However, the developers warned that a new and advanced sharding design is in its testing phase.

The new Sharding design will be launched when Ethereum entirely moves to the Ethereum Version 2 that will deploy the Proof Of Stake (PoS) mechanism. This new Sharding design for Ethereum blockchain is Danksharding.

What Is Danksharding?

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Image: Coin Yuppie

Danksharding is the latest design proposal for Sharding on Ethereum. The scalability design is named after Dankrad Feist, the Ethereum researcher who proposed the design.

Danksharding is expected to take the same principle of Sharding, whereby it will split network activities into shards. However, instead of using the shards to increase transaction throughput, it will use them to increase data transactions space.

Experts opine that Danksharding will transition Ethereum into an agreeable settlement and data availability layer. It is expected to implement all the features of Sharding as proposed in 2016.

Danksharding will deploy the data availability sampling technique. This technique allows nodes on the Ethereum network to verify the validity of large data amounts by sampling a few. Danksharding will allow Ethereum to process more data and transactions than its previous capability.

In Danksharding, there will be cheaper and faster Layer 2 networks (mentioned earlier), and at the same time, transactions on the Ethereum network will be directly possible. In essence, Danksharding will pave the way for cheaper and faster Layer 2 networks without affecting direct transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.

It is important to know that the Danksharding update is robust and will take enough time and effort to work out and finalize the design decisions before it is fully launched on Ethereum's mainnet. Before the full launch, Ethereum developers propose Proto-danksharding as the first key step towards Danksharding.

Proto-Danksharding is a tip of what Ethereum users should expect when the full Danksharding design is launched. For instance, Ethereum blocks can currently process and carry 50 to 100kb of data. It is expected that Proto-danksharding will be able to have 1MB, and full Danksharding is projected to carry about 16MB data size.

Danksharding still has a long way to go before it is fully launched; however, proto-danksharding is already in its prototype phase.

Conclusion

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Danksharding is regarded as Ethereum's new design because it signifies a robust transition from the trading Sharding system. When Ethereum fully launches the Danksharding design, it is expected to drastically improve its scalability features and give market advantage to cheaper and faster Layer 2 networks.

As with every smart update, Danksharding still has many chinks in the armor that need to be hammered out.

As soon as all plans are perfected, the implementation will take place on the Shanghai hard fork by the end of 2022.

Albeit, before then, the Proto-danksharding is before us and in its prototype phase.

Author: Valentine. A, Gate.io Researcher

This article represents only the researcher's views and does not constitute investment suggestions.

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