Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade gets a new touch — Here’s how

Posted: September 30, 2023

• The upgrade would allow the verification of data from the consensus layer.
• Developers also plan to discuss additions to the Ethereum L1 on the next call.

On 28 September, Ethereum’s [ETH] lead developer Tim Beiko provided an update on the upcoming Dencun upgrade. According to Beiko, there was an All Core Developer Execution (ACDE) meeting. During the meeting, participants talked about various subjects and added some touches to the already-existing development.

To test that, and to have a devnet with a large enough validator count to trigger EIP-7514, we’ll launch a short-lived devnet-10 after devnet-9. Having a large validator set there will allow us to test the new churn limits.

— timbeiko.eth ☀️ (@TimBeiko) September 28, 2023

To be clear, the Dencun upgrade came up as an avenue to bring changes across Ethereum’s two Mainnet layers. This is the execution layer, which oversees smart contract execution, and the consensus layer, centered on blockchain consensus via staking. 

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No more troubles

Beiko mentioned that there were some audits for the EIP-4788 contract during the meeting. For context, the EIP-4788 is the hash tree root in the Beacon Chain that allows verification of data from the consensus layer.

Two weeks ago, Beiko also shared some updates regarding the Dencun upgrade. But as of then, he focused on improving validator schemes and deploying nodes.

This time, the developer gave more information on the changes made which are also vital to the Beacon Chain users. He mentioned that the changes would allow contracts on the Beacon roots to be future-proof against block times. Beiko confirmed that other development firms apart from the Ethereum Foundation mentioned that there were no new issues with the contract.

“Both ChainSecurity and Dedaub had representatives on the call and confirmed that no other issues had been brought up since the two mentioned in the initial review, which we covered previously.”

Next up is a difficult discussion

Furthermore, Beiko mentioned that there were other activities that included testing the MEV-Boost. Known as the Maximal Extractable Value, the MEV-Boost is a middleware developed to allow validators to request blocks from a network of builders.

However, Beiko mentioned that a large number of validators, development, and networking specialists to get the Boost to function on the Ethereum Mainnet as desired. He said, 

“To test that, and to have a devnet with a large enough validator count to trigger EIP-7514, we’ll launch a short-lived devnet-10 after devnet-9. Having a large validator set there will allow us to test the new churn limits.”

Other topics discussed included whether Ethereum L1 Mainnet should be Zero-Knowledge (ZK) friendly. Beiko disclosed that the developers all agreed that it wasn’t something to hastily decide. Also, some were not sure if the functionality is something that Ethereum should have.

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Following the indecisiveness, the developers agreed to have their next ACDE meeting on 12 October at 14:00 UTC.