Polygon Developer: Dencun Upgrade Will Hit the Zkevm Testnet in April

cryptonews.com:

Ethereum’s highly anticipated Dencun upgrade is slated to hit the zkEVM testnet in April. Polygon Labs Developer Relations Engineer, Jarrod Watts, believes this upgrade could greatly benefit Polygon zkEVM and similar layer-2 solutions.

He suggested that the proposals laid out in EIP-4844 will benefit Ethereum users and positively impact Polygon and the broader zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) ecosystem.

The upcoming Dencun upgrade will vastly enhance layer-2 solutions that utilize rollup technology, such as Optimism and Arbitrum.

Of particular importance is the implementation of EIP-4844, which introduces “blobs” – essentially efficient data storage channels – to further reduce layer-2 transaction costs.

EIP-4844 is coming to Ethereum tomorrow.

What does this mean for Polygon chains?

Here’s what’s going to happen for Polygon enjoyoors:

1/ It’s coming to zkEVM in May

While 4844 goes live on Ethereum tomorrow, it will be coming to Polygon zkEVM testnet in April, and is…

— Jarrod Watts (@jarrodWattsDev) March 13, 2024

While Polygon is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), it functions as a sidechain rather than a true layer-2 rollup solution. As a result, Dencun’s impact on Polygon may be less pronounced.

Polygon zkEVM, however, does leverage both zero-knowledge proofs (for improved privacy) and rollups. This means it can potentially benefit from the Dencun upgrade.

Watts, an engineer working on the project, notes that roughly 80% of zkEVM fees come from call data. By switching to the more efficient “blob” storage post-Dencun, Polygon zkEVM looks to drastically reduce these fees.

Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade will bring benefits to various layer-2 platforms. These platforms will be able to offer lower