Ethereum Cancun upgrade development is on track, testing phase comes next

• Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko summarizes the recent developers conference and preparations for testing Cancun upgrade.
• The Cancun upgrade fork is one of Ethereum network’s most anticipated updates to boost scalability and reduce transaction costs for rollups.
• The next Ethereum developer call, scheduled for September 14, will include final changes for the Cancun upgrade.

The Ethereum Cancun upgrade, or EIP-4844, is one of the most pivotal developments in the ETH ecosystem this year. The upgrade is considered key to Ethereum network’s evolution as it is set to significantly reduce Ethereum’s gas fees and increase transaction throughput.

Paving the way for proto-danksharding and an effective reduction in the cost of using the Ethereum network, the Cancun upgrade is now closer to the testing phase. 

Ethereum Cancun upgrade progress and what to expect next

The Ethereum Cancun upgrade, also known as Cancun-Deneb (Dencun), is the next planned update to the altcoin’s network. The upgrade is set to boost the security and usability of the Ethereum blockchain, reducing its overall transaction cost.

The first step of the Cancun upgrade went live with the activation of Shanghai. Tim Beiko explained that developers discussed the update and the general health of the Ethereum network. Issues were identified on the non-consensus side of upcoming upgrades.

We had another @ethereum #ACDE earlier today: we discussed the latest on Dencun devnets, and spent quite some time on the Verkle Trie & State Expiry roadmap.

Agenda: https://t.co/jWnGwTCtJr
Recording: https://t.co/LGVkXVZ5o1

Recap below 😄 https://t.co/Lri49YYUNJ

— timbeiko.eth ☀️ (@TimBeiko) August 31, 2023

Developers noted that client teams agreed to do most of the testing on the devnet-8 (or development network) and that the devnet-9 will be launched soon. This devnet will include final specifications and changes for EIP-4788.

The EIP is key to liquid staking protocols that need a secure way to prove new balance updates for their validators. Currently, most Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSDs) rely on a small oracle committee for such information, but the final changes in EIP-4788 can remove these implementation barriers for LSDs.

Beiko informed the Ethereum community that the next devnet brings ETH one step closer to the Cancun upgrade. If there are no bugs and issues that arise during development, Cancun is likely to be implemented in Q4 2023. If there are any major issues that are spotted in devnet-9, devnet-10 will be used for testing as well.