What is Danksharding and the Features It Has

Danksharding is one of the most important features of the Ethereum Cancun upgrade, which is part of the Ethereum 2.0 (Serenity) upgrade. As an innovative sharding architecture, danksharding plays an important role in optimizing data management and transaction processing in the Ethereum network.

Find out more about what Danksharding is and its complete features below. Also understand the temporary solution in the form of proto-danksharding in this article.

What is Danksharding?

Named after Ethereum researcher Dankrad Feist, danksharding introduces a transformational approach to sharding technology.

Sharding involves dividing a blockchain database into smaller, manageable parts to increase efficiency. 

In contrast to conventional sharding methods, danksharding simplifies its architecture by focusing on the concept of pooled market fees.

In traditional sharding, each shard has a different block and block proposer. Danksharding simplifies this by having a single block proposer, increasing the efficiency of transaction processing and data storage. This innovation addresses the blockchain trilemma by prioritizing security, decentralization, and scalability.

Key Features of Danksharding

Compounded Market Costs

Danksharding introduces unified market fees, simplifying the transaction process by minimizing the complexity associated with having multiple block proponents.

Optimizing Data Availability

The main focus of danksharding is increasing data availability for rollups, a Layer 2 scaling solution on Ethereum. By managing data efficiently, it significantly improves network performance.

Simplified Sharding Architecture

Danksharding simplifies the sharding structure, making it easier to understand and efficient. This approach addresses the challenges faced by the traditional blockchain trilemma , creating a better balance between security, decentralization, and scalability.

Proto-Danksharding: A Stepping Stone

Proto-Danksharding, a temporary solution before the full implementation of danksharding, functions as an important bridge. Although danksharding remains the primary goal, proto-danksharding provides immediate benefits, such as reduced gas costs and increased scalability.

In the development process, the first step to realizing its full potential was taken through the introduction of temporary data storage in a process called proto-danksharding.

Proto-danksharding will introduce a new transaction type that allows rollups to store transaction data in temporary blobs.

The data in these blobs is inaccessible to the EVM (which means lower gas costs) and will be automatically deleted after a certain period (less than three months).

The reason behind this Ethereum upgrade is that rollup transaction data does not need to be available on-chain forever. The data only needs to be available long enough for anyone to inspect and verify transactions posted on Ethereum.

Instead, transaction data can be deleted from nodes after a certain period of time so that Ethereum nodes do not have to store large amounts of data. Responsibility for storing the entire transaction history will fall to a third party.

It is expected that the temporary data blobs associated with each Ethereum block will increase from 1 proto-danksharding to 64 in full danksharding.

Impact of Danksharding on Ethereum

The implementation of danksharding will usher in a new era for Ethereum, addressing scalability concerns and optimizing data management. The Ethereum network is ready to handle much higher transaction volumes, making it more accessible for users and developers.

As Ethereum progressed through its development phases, danksharding emerged as a cornerstone, demonstrating the platform's commitment to continuous improvement.

Its influence extends beyond transaction processing, impacting the Ethereum ecosystem more broadly and paving the way to a more robust and scalable blockchain future.

However, according to Ethereum developers, full implementation of danksharding itself is still expected to begin in several years. The danksharding plan has received a lot of praise for its simpler design and decentralized enabling nature compared to the original sharding plan.

We need to remember that blockchain technology is developing at a very fast pace, and changes in Ethereum's scalability roadmap may occur with the emergence of new innovations.

Also read:

What is Ethereum Cancun and How Does It Influence

Dencun Ethereum Upgrade Potentially Reduces Ether Burn

What is Mantle Network (MNT)? The Future of Ethereum Blockchain Scalability

DISCLAIMER : This article is informational in nature and is not an offer or invitation to sell or buy any crypto assets. Trading crypto assets is a high-risk activity. Crypto asset prices are volatile, where prices can change significantly from time to time and Bittime is not responsible for changes in fluctuations in crypto asset exchange rates.