The highly anticipated Ethereum hard fork Dencun is preparing for its testnet debut on Sepolia and Holesky in the coming weeks. The Ethereum Protocol Support Team confirmed this development in a recent blog post, announcing that the upgrade is scheduled for January 30 and February 7. The Dencun upgrade, part of the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) series, will introduce the ‘proto-danksharding’ feature, which runs on data blobs. This feature is expected to make data storage more efficient and significantly reduce rollup costs and transaction fees for layer-2 scaling solutions.
Testnet Deployments
The Dencun hard fork is currently being tested on the Goerli testnet after its official launch on January 17. It will then migrate to the Sepolia testnet on January 30 and finally to Holesky on February 7. If the testing phase goes smoothly, the Dencun upgrade will transition to the Ethereum mainnet.
Dencun Upgrade Details
The Sepolia testnet activation for Dencun is set for 22:51:12 UTC at epoch height 132608, with the first epoch slot starting at 4243456. On the other hand, Holesky’s launch is scheduled for 11:34:24 at epoch height 29696, with its first epoch slot going online at 950272.
Ethereum Spot ETF Approval Delayed
Meanwhile, Grayscale Asset Management’s spot Ethereum ETF application has encountered a delay from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The delay is likely due to ongoing hearings involving Coinbase and Binance before the SEC. Despite this setback, many expect the eventual approval of the Grayscale spot Ethereum ETF, which is designed to track the Ethereum network’s performance and provide users with tokenized securities.
Hot Take: The Future of Ethereum Upgrades
The Dencun upgrade is an exciting development for the Ethereum network, introducing new features and enhancements that aim to improve scalability and reduce transaction fees. As the testnet deployments progress, it brings us one step closer to the mainnet implementation of Dencun. Additionally, the delay in approving Ethereum spot ETFs highlights the regulatory challenges faced by cryptocurrency investment products. However, with growing interest in Ethereum and its diverse use cases, it is expected that ETFs underlying the network will eventually be approved, further expanding access and liquidity for investors.
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