Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844)
To actualize Danksharding a lot of things have to be done and settled. This begot Proto-DankSharding also called EIP-4844. ETH dev, Proto…
To actualize Danksharding a lot of things have to be done and settled. This begot Proto-DankSharding also called EIP-4844. ETH dev, Proto Lambda, coined the term, Proto-Danksharding.
What is Proto-DankSharding?
Proto-DankSharding is a proposal to implement most of the tech ( eg transaction format) behind Danksharding, but without implementing sharding.
The change/feature introduced by Proto-Danksharding is binary large objects (blobs).
Blob isn’t a new word, as it’s a programming language term (binary data stored as a single entity), but it’s new in the blockchain.
So what is a blob then?
Blob
Blobs are big wraps or large portable bundles (~125 kb) that contain cheap data. A blob is like a normal transaction but carries an extra piece of data, a blob. Blobs are cheaper and larger than similar tech, call data (data location that contains functions and arguments).
A blob is made up of a body and header, the body contains relevant pieces of data from any transaction while the header contains the signature of the block proposer.
Data bandwidth in Proto-DankSharding is 1 MB instead of 16 MB. This bandwidth is a result of validators and light clients downloading the full blob contents. This is very scalable because blob data isn’t competing with other ETH transactions.
EVMs can only access the cheaper data in a blob because transactions in Danksharding won’t be in the normal memepool. And blobs are stored by the consensus layer (beacon chain) instead of the execution layer.
Difference between EIP-4844 and EIP-4488
Before we head in the difference let’s know what EIP-4488 is.
EIP-4488 is an ETH improvement proposal introduced by Vitalik Buterin and Ansgar Dietrichs in Nov, 2021. It focus on reducing gas fees for ETH rollups (optimism, Arbitrum etc) using call data tech.
The main difference between EIP-4844 and EIP-4488 is that EIP-4488 is building solutions for the time being while EIP-4844 is building solutions to help DankSharding and sharding in the future.
When Proto-DankSharding is rolled out, users, devs, and validators have to do no work for it to ship to Sharding. Also, EIP-4844 separates blob from call data, this makes it easy for clients to store data for a short while.
Where Proto-DankSharding is today?
Since its improvement proposal in February, it hasn’t been launched. Although it’s being tested, it has a long way to go as it races to be the forerunner of full sharding.
Will EIP-4844 Reduce Gas Fees?
No, it won’t. Most updates on ETH won’t but it’s a path to ETH’s end of gas fee issues.
However, EIP-4844 will reduce gas in rollups. Rollups use call data which Proto-Danksharding will replace with blobs; blobs are cheaper in transaction fees than call data thereby reducing gas fees for Rollups.
Final notes
Eth is building for a rollup-centric network and a modular chain. Sharding will help ETH reach its goal and Proto-DankSharding like its senior brother, Danksharding, are paths to full Sharding.
If you enjoyed this write-up and would like to reach out to me. This is my twitter handle — twitter.com/0xSalazar
Please remember to do your research. None of this is financial advice.