By: Eva Baxter
Ethereum's major software upgrade, Dencun, has now been successfully deployed on the mainnet. The upgrade, which targets Layer 2 networks such as Arbitrum, Polygon, and Coinbase's Base, is expected to make the network more cost-effective to use. Notably, Dencun is set to significantly decrease transaction fees on these networks, dropping the costs from dollars to cents or even fractions of a cent.
Dencun is considered a significant move towards improving Ethereum's user experience, by fostering the development of new applications and services through significant cost reductions. Further, the upgrade introduces a new data storage system, whereby Layer 2 data is stored in new 'blobs' repositories, reducing data storage costs. However, despite the successful upgrade, the price of Ether continues to consolidate below the $4,000 level.
Moreover, the Dencun upgrade is bringing changes to decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and gas costs. It's predicted to reduce gas costs of popular Layer 2 networks, such as Arbitrum, Optimism, and Coinbase’s Base, significantly. Thus, Ethereum's Dencun upgrade is setting the stage for greater adoption, usage, and broader accessibility within the Ethereum community.
However, market participants appear cautious despite the upgrade, with some speculation about a potential decrease in ETH's price. Ethereum continues to perform steadily in the crypto market, with numerous altcoin market players hedging their ETH investments to mitigate risks. Nevertheless, Ethereum's performance remains robust, and the recently introduced Dencun upgrade could potentially spark a renewed uptrend for ETH.