After months of meticulous research and planning, the Ethereum (ETH) core developers will be activating the Dencun upgrade on the mainnet later today. According to a prior announcement from the Ether core developers, the Dencun upgrade will be activated at epoch 269568.
As a result, Ethereum node operators and stakers are expected to upgrade their respective software to ensure a seamless transition.
What to Expect for Ethereum’s Dencun Upgrade
As Coinpedia previously reported, the Ethereum Dencun upgrade is the largest update since the network transitioned from the proof-of-work (PoW) to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus method through the merge event and the Shanghai upgrade. As a result, Ethereum users should expect tangible changes, more so in the vast ERC-20 ecosystem.
Notably, the Dencun upgrade will entail several network changes but the most notable one will be on the Ethereum’s consensus layers alias Layer Twos (L2). Through the introduction of ephemeral data blobs with the EIP-4844, also called the protodanksharding, Ethereum’s L2 networks will now enjoy reduced transaction fees.
Other changes introduced by the Dencun upgrade include transient storage opcodes via EIP-1153, beacon block root in the EVM via EIP-4788, and MCOPY (memory copying instructions) EIP-5656, among others.
Impact on Ethereum Network and Ether’s Price Action
The gradual and consistent growth in the Ethereum network has helped it remain the smart contract and web3 ecosystem leader. According to the latest market data, the Ethereum network has more than $57 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL) and the lion’s share in the stablecoins market cap.
Consequently, Ethereum price has registered over 82 percent gains in the past five weeks to trade around $4,047 on Wednesday during the London session. With Bitcoin price showing short-term weaknesses that could result in a market correction, Ethereum price is well positioned to rally toward its ATH in the coming weeks.