{"id":37945,"date":"2023-11-17T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-17T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=37945"},"modified":"2025-08-29T23:43:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T20:43:20","slug":"how-the-dencun-hard-fork-will-change-ethereum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/how-the-dencun-hard-fork-will-change-ethereum\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Dencun hard fork will change Ethereum"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">What is Cancun-Deneb (Dencun)?<\/h2>\n<p>Cancun is the name of the execution part of the Ethereum hard fork known as Cancun-Deneb (Dencun). It is the first major upgrade of the world\u2019s second-largest cryptocurrency since Shapella, activated in April 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Cancun-Deneb comprises two layers of upgrades: the consensus layer (Deneb) and the execution layer (Cancun).<\/p>\n<p>According to Ethereum\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-on-ethereums-roadmap\">roadmap<\/a>, network changes do not follow a strict linear plan. Dencun spans several areas: scalability, lower gas fees, enhanced security, improved cross-network communication, and more efficient data storage.<\/p>\n<p>The developers\u2019 long-term strategy envisages Dencun as a preparatory step toward full data partitioning \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-sharding\">sharding<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">What upgrades are coming in Cancun-Deneb?<\/h2>\n<p>The list of components for Cancun was approved by developers in June 2023. It includes the following improvement proposals:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>EIP-4844 \u2014 the most anticipated upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain. It introduces <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eip4844.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Proto-Danksharding<\/a>, designed to scale the network by creating a new transaction type for large binary data blobs. It is expected to lower fees for <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-layer%e2%80%912-solution-in-blockchain\">L2 solutions<\/a> built on <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-are-rollups-and-how-do-they-scale-ethereum\">Rollups<\/a>;<\/li>\n<li>EIP-4788 \u2014 aimed at improving the efficiency of <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-are-cross-chain-bridges\">cross-chain bridges<\/a> and staking pools;<\/li>\n<li>EIP-1153 \u2014 intended to optimize block space and reduce fees for on-chain data storage;<\/li>\n<li>EIP-5656 \u2014 improves the <span data-descr=\"Ethereum Virtual Machine\" class=\"old_tooltip\">EVM<\/span>;<\/li>\n<li>EIP-6780 \u2014 removes legacy code that could interfere with smart contracts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The specification for Deneb, the consensus layer, <a href=\"https:\/\/eth2book.info\/capella\/part4\/history\/deneb\/\">includes<\/a> improvements to support the hard fork\u2019s key upgrade, EIP-4844 (Proto-Danksharding): <a href=\"https:\/\/eips.ethereum.org\/EIPS\/eip-7044\">EIP-7044<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/eips.ethereum.org\/EIPS\/eip-7045\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">EIP-7045<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/eips.ethereum.org\/EIPS\/eip-7514\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">EIP-7514<\/a>. These elements will enhance the user experience and network security.<\/p>\n<p>Originally, the Ethereum Dencun hard fork was planned for October 2023. However, due to issues across ten testnets, the upgrade was postponed to 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">What comes next for Ethereum after the upgrades?<\/h2>\n<p>Almost half a year after Shapella, Ethereum\u2019s previous upgrade, the ecosystem\u2019s momentum had waned. JPMorgan analysts called activity in the network \u201cdisappointing\u201d. The bank noted a 12% drop in daily transactions, a near-20% decline in daily active addresses, and about an 8% fall in total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols.<\/p>\n<p>That, however, refers only to on-chain activity on Ethereum\u2019s mainnet. ETH\u2019s development strategy envisages shifting activity to other layers, namely L2 and <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-layer-3-l3-solution\">L3<\/a> solutions based on Rollups. <\/p>\n<p>In November 2023, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin proposed revisiting the Plasma scaling concept. Work on implementing the technology had been postponed because of high data-storage costs. However, Buterin believes that deploying zk-SNARKs can solve this problem.<\/p>\n<p>Successful implementation of Dencun\u2019s upgrades opens new opportunities for L2 solutions and individual decentralised applications. For example, the <span data-descr=\"Decentralized exchange\" class=\"old_tooltip\">DEX<\/span> Uniswap is awaiting Cancun\u2019s rollout to launch Uniswap v4, which will enable cross-network asset swaps, dynamic fee adjustments, and the creation of various order types.<\/p>\n<p>StarkWare, the developer of the L2 StarkNet, is awaiting the hard fork to adapt its network to a set of updates that will improve efficiency and lower users\u2019 transaction costs. Dencun is also expected to affect other layer-two networks, including <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-optimism-op\">Optimism<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-arbitrum\">Arbitrum<\/a> and zkSync.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What the Cancun-Deneb upgrades are and how they will affect layer-two networks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"2","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2113],"tags":[46,268],"class_list":["post-37945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptorium","tag-ethereum","tag-hardfork"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"85","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37947,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37945\/revisions\/37947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}