Layer 2 (L2) scaling solutions like Linea have emerged in response to Ethereum’s scalability needs and Vitalik’s vision of a rollup-centric roadmap for a modular approach to achieving them. With the burgeoning Linea ecosystem – comprising an explosion of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, NFT marketplaces, decentralized applications (dapps), and more – the need for improved scalability and lower gas fees has never been more critical. This is where EIP-4844 comes in.

The Dencun Upgrade went live on Ethereum mainnet today at 10 am ET. The upgrade has been in the making for nearly two years, pointing to the fact that scalability and lower L2 gas fees are top of mind for the Ethereum community. To better tackle network scalability issues, a fundamental shift was required in Ethereum’s data processing mechanisms. This brought about the initiation of EIP-4844, also known as proto-danksharding.

Linea offers transaction fees significantly lower than Ethereum’s: transactions on Linea are up to 35x lower than Ethereum’s. Despite these cost reductions, average users find gas fees challenging, leading them to opt for alternative Layer 1 (L1) blockchains. Let’s learn how EIP-4844 was designed to improve data availability, data storage, and ultimately lower gas fees for users and builders of L2s.