Introduction
As Ethereum progresses through its ambitious roadmap, significant shifts are occurring in its technical direction. Originally proposed in 2015, sharding has undergone substantial conceptual evolution, particularly after Vitalik Buterin introduced the "Rollup-Centric Ethereum Roadmap" and outlined Ethereum's "Endgame." These changes reflect Ethereum's strategic pivot toward becoming a security and data availability layer for Rollups, while scaling solutions like sharding take center stage.
Current Ethereum Roadmap
Ethereum's official roadmap now consists of three key phases:
- Beacon Chain: Launched in December 2020 as a precursor to Ethereum's transition to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), it coordinates the consensus layer.
- The Merge: The unification of Ethereum's execution layer (mainnet) with the consensus layer (Beacon Chain), marking the full transition to PoS.
- Sharding: Expected to dominate Ethereum's development post-Merge, sharding aims to enhance scalability and data availability.
The Evolution of Sharding
Original Sharding Concept
- Execution Shards: Ethereum's initial plan involved 64 independent shards, each with its own proposers and committees.
- Purpose: Parallel transaction processing to improve scalability and reduce node hardware requirements.
Transition to Rollup-Centric Scaling
- Vitalik's 2020 Proposal: Emphasized supporting Rollups by expanding data capacity instead of on-chain computation.
- Endgame Vision (2021): Ethereum as a high-security base layer, enabling multiple Rollups to thrive atop its data availability layer.
Proto-Danksharding and Danksharding
Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844)
- Objective: Introduce "blob-carrying transactions" to reduce Rollup costs by providing cheaper data availability than
CALLDATA. Mechanism:
- Blobs (125 kB) attached to transactions.
- Data stored for ~30 days before pruning, with third-party backups ensuring long-term availability.
Danksharding
A comprehensive upgrade combining:
- Data Availability Sampling (DAS): Nodes verify data availability by randomly sampling small portions of blobs, enabled by erasure coding (Reed-Solomon).
- KZG Polynomial Commitments: Ensures correct erasure coding without requiring full data downloads.
- Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS): Decouples block proposal from construction to mitigate MEV centralization.
- Censorship Resistance Lists (crLists): Mandates inclusion of specific transactions to prevent censorship.
Advantages Over Original Sharding
- Simplified consensus (single committee vs. 64 shard committees).
- Potential for synchronous L1 ↔ zkRollup calls, enabling advanced cross-layer composability (e.g., dAMMs).
Future Outlook: A Multi-Rollup Ecosystem
- Multi-Rollup Landscape: Ethereum will host competing Rollups, leveraging its security and data availability.
- Cross-Rollup Infrastructure: Tools for cross-domain MEV and asset transfers will become critical.
- Ecosystem Growth: Rollup-based applications may surpass Ethereum’s native activity in adoption and innovation.
FAQs
Q: How does Proto-Danksharding reduce Rollup costs?
A: By replacing expensive CALLDATA with larger, cheaper blobs (~125 kB), cutting fees significantly.
Q: What ensures data availability after blobs are pruned?
A: Third parties (e.g., Rollups, Portal Network) store historical data, requiring just one honest actor for reliability.
Q: How does Danksharding prevent MEV centralization?
A: PBS separates block building from proposing, forcing builders to bid competitively and share profits with validators.
Q: When will Danksharding be implemented?
A: Proto-Danksharding is expected in 6–9 months; full Danksharding may follow in 18–24 months.
👉 Explore Ethereum's Rollup Ecosystem
👉 Learn About Cross-Rollup Synergies