# **EIP-4844: A Deep Dive into Blob-Carrying Transactions and the Rollup-Centric Ethereum Roadmap**

Welcome to [revWhiteShadow](https://revwhiteshadow.gitlab.io), kts personal blog site. This comprehensive exploration will dissect EIP-4844, also known as Proto-Danksharding, its significance for Ethereum scalability, and the transformative impact of blob-carrying transactions on the future of rollups. We aim to provide an in-depth understanding that goes beyond surface-level explanations, empowering you to grasp the nuances of this pivotal Ethereum Improvement Proposal.

## **Understanding the Data Availability Problem and Rollup Bottlenecks**

Ethereum, in its current state, faces significant challenges concerning data availability (DA), which directly impacts the scalability and cost-effectiveness of rollups. Rollups, both optimistic and zero-knowledge (ZK), rely on posting transaction data to the Ethereum mainnet. This data serves as the foundation for verifying the correctness of rollup state transitions and allows for dispute resolution in the case of optimistic rollups.

### **The Costly Nature of Calldata and its Limitations**

Currently, rollups primarily use calldata to publish transaction data on the Ethereum mainnet. Calldata is a read-only, byte-addressable space associated with each Ethereum transaction. While it provides the necessary data availability, it is prohibitively expensive, constituting a major bottleneck for rollup scalability. The high cost of calldata significantly contributes to the overall transaction fees experienced by users within rollups. Moreover, the limited capacity of calldata imposes a constraint on the amount of data that can be efficiently posted, restricting the transaction throughput achievable by rollups. Therefore, a more cost-effective and efficient mechanism for data availability is essential to unlock the full potential of rollups.

### **The Need for Dedicated Data Availability Solutions**

Recognizing the limitations of calldata, the Ethereum community has been actively exploring and developing dedicated data availability solutions. These solutions aim to decouple data availability from execution, thereby reducing the cost and increasing the scalability of rollups. EIP-4844 represents a significant step in this direction by introducing blob-carrying transactions as a novel approach to providing data availability specifically tailored for rollups.

## **EIP-4844: Proto-Danksharding and the Introduction of Blobs**

EIP-4844, often referred to as Proto-Danksharding, is a pivotal upgrade to the Ethereum protocol. It is a precursor to full Danksharding, which represents the ultimate vision for data sharding on Ethereum. Proto-Danksharding introduces the concept of "blobs," which are large, contiguous chunks of data that can be attached to Ethereum transactions.

### **Blob-Carrying Transactions: A Gas-Efficient Alternative**

Unlike calldata, blobs are not directly accessible to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) during transaction execution. Instead, they are stored separately and made available to nodes that need to verify the validity of rollup transactions. This separation of data availability from execution offers several key advantages. The most prominent is that interacting with blob data is significantly cheaper than interacting with calldata, leading to a substantial reduction in the cost of data availability for rollups. This cost reduction directly translates into lower transaction fees for users within rollups, making them more accessible and attractive.

### **The Mechanics of Blobs and KZG Commitments**

Blob-carrying transactions utilize KZG (Kate-Zaverucha-Goldberg) commitments to ensure the integrity and availability of blob data. A KZG commitment is a cryptographic primitive that allows one to commit to a polynomial (in this case, the data within the blob) and later prove the evaluation of that polynomial at specific points without revealing the entire polynomial. When a transaction with a blob is submitted, the Ethereum node calculates a KZG commitment to the blob data. This commitment is then included in the transaction, allowing anyone to verify that the blob data has not been tampered with. Furthermore, KZG commitments enable data availability sampling, a technique that allows nodes to verify that the data is available without having to download the entire blob.

### **Erasure Coding and Data Redundancy for Enhanced Security**

To further enhance data availability and resilience, blob data is often encoded using erasure coding techniques. Erasure coding allows for the reconstruction of the original data even if a portion of the data is lost or unavailable. By introducing redundancy into the blob data, erasure coding ensures that the data remains accessible even if some nodes fail to provide it. This is crucial for maintaining the integrity and security of rollups.

## **The Benefits of EIP-4844 for Ethereum Rollups**

The implementation of EIP-4844 offers a multitude of benefits for Ethereum rollups, paving the way for increased scalability, lower transaction fees, and enhanced user experience.

### **Significant Cost Reduction for Rollup Transactions**

The most immediate and tangible benefit of EIP-4844 is the substantial reduction in transaction costs for rollups. By utilizing blob-carrying transactions, rollups can significantly lower the cost of posting transaction data to the Ethereum mainnet. This cost reduction directly translates into lower transaction fees for users within rollups, making them more competitive and accessible.

### **Increased Scalability and Transaction Throughput**

EIP-4844 alleviates the data availability bottleneck, allowing rollups to achieve higher transaction throughput. With cheaper data availability, rollups can process more transactions per second, significantly improving their scalability. This increased scalability is essential for accommodating the growing demand for decentralized applications and services on Ethereum.

### **Enhanced Security and Data Availability Guarantees**

The use of KZG commitments and erasure coding techniques in blob-carrying transactions enhances the security and data availability guarantees for rollups. KZG commitments ensure the integrity of the blob data, while erasure coding provides redundancy, making the data resilient to node failures and censorship.

### **Facilitating the Transition to Full Danksharding**

EIP-4844 serves as a crucial stepping stone towards the implementation of full Danksharding. By introducing the core concepts and infrastructure needed for data sharding, EIP-4844 lays the foundation for a more scalable and efficient Ethereum ecosystem. It allows developers and researchers to gain valuable experience working with blobs and KZG commitments, paving the way for a seamless transition to full Danksharding in the future.

## **The Technical Specifications of EIP-4844: A Deeper Dive**

To fully understand EIP-4844, it is important to delve into the technical specifications of the proposal. This includes the changes introduced to the Ethereum protocol, the structure of blob-carrying transactions, and the implementation of KZG commitments.

### **New Transaction Type: Blob Transactions (Type 3)**

EIP-4844 introduces a new transaction type, commonly referred to as "blob transactions" or "Type 3" transactions. These transactions are distinct from legacy transactions and EIP-1559 transactions. They are designed to carry blobs of data alongside the traditional transaction payload. The introduction of a new transaction type ensures that the changes introduced by EIP-4844 do not break compatibility with existing Ethereum infrastructure.

### **The `blob_versioned_hashes` Field**

A key component of blob transactions is the `blob_versioned_hashes` field. This field contains the KZG commitments to the blob data. The versioned hashes are derived from the KZG commitments and provide a concise representation of the blob's content. These hashes are used for verifying the integrity and availability of the blob data.

### **The Introduction of the `BLOBHASH` Opcode**

EIP-4844 introduces a new opcode, `BLOBHASH`, which allows smart contracts to access the versioned hashes of the blobs associated with a transaction. This opcode enables smart contracts to interact with blob data and perform various operations, such as verifying the authenticity of data or triggering specific actions based on the content of the blob.

### **Gas Accounting and Pricing for Blob Data**

The gas cost of blob-carrying transactions is carefully calibrated to ensure that they are more cost-effective than calldata while still maintaining the security and stability of the Ethereum network. The gas cost is determined based on the size of the blob and the computational resources required to process the KZG commitments. The gas pricing mechanism is designed to incentivize the efficient use of blob data and prevent spam transactions. The initial pricing is set to be low, but mechanisms are in place to adjust the price based on network congestion and demand, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the system.

### **Blob Expiry and the 18-Day Retention Period**

To prevent the Ethereum network from being burdened with excessive data storage, blob data is subject to an expiry mechanism. By default, blob data is retained for a period of 18 days. After this period, the blob data is pruned from the network, freeing up storage space. This expiry mechanism ensures that the Ethereum network remains efficient and responsive. The 18-day retention period is a carefully chosen balance between providing sufficient time for rollups to verify and finalize transactions and minimizing the storage burden on the network.

## **Potential Challenges and Considerations for EIP-4844**

While EIP-4844 offers significant benefits, it is essential to acknowledge the potential challenges and considerations associated with its implementation.

### **Network Congestion and Gas Price Volatility**

The introduction of blob-carrying transactions could potentially lead to increased network congestion and gas price volatility, particularly during periods of high demand. The Ethereum community will need to closely monitor the network and make adjustments to the gas pricing mechanism as needed to mitigate these risks.

### **Client Implementation Complexity**

Implementing EIP-4844 requires significant changes to the Ethereum client software. This adds complexity to the development and maintenance of Ethereum clients and may require extensive testing to ensure stability and compatibility.

### **Security Considerations and Potential Attack Vectors**

As with any new technology, EIP-4844 introduces new security considerations and potential attack vectors. The Ethereum community will need to carefully analyze and address these risks to ensure the security and integrity of the network.

### **The Long-Term Impact on Centralization**

There are concerns that the resources needed to fully utilize data blobs, and especially when coupled with future improvements could further cement the trend toward centralized infrastructure. While Proto-Danksharding is meant to eventually improve this aspect, the economics and implementation need constant monitoring as the tech evolves.

## **The Future of Ethereum Rollups: Beyond EIP-4844**

EIP-4844 is a major milestone in the Ethereum roadmap, but it is not the final destination. The Ethereum community is actively working on further improvements to data availability and scalability, including full Danksharding and other innovative solutions.

### **Full Danksharding: The Ultimate Vision for Data Sharding**

Full Danksharding represents the ultimate vision for data sharding on Ethereum. It will enable the Ethereum network to scale to unprecedented levels by distributing the data availability burden across multiple shards. Full Danksharding builds upon the foundation laid by EIP-4844 and will further reduce the cost and increase the scalability of rollups.

### **Data Availability Sampling (DAS): A Game-Changer for Security**

Data Availability Sampling (DAS) is a technique that allows light clients to verify that data is available without having to download the entire dataset. DAS is a crucial component of full Danksharding and will significantly enhance the security and resilience of the Ethereum network. It allows for much faster and more efficient verification of data availability, without relying on the assumption that a majority of nodes are honest.

### **The Rollup-Centric Roadmap: A Paradigm Shift**

The Ethereum roadmap is increasingly focused on rollups as the primary scaling solution. This "rollup-centric" roadmap recognizes the limitations of layer-1 scaling and prioritizes the development of layer-2 technologies that can significantly increase the transaction throughput of the Ethereum ecosystem. EIP-4844 is a key enabler of this roadmap, paving the way for a more scalable and efficient Ethereum future. The focus shift towards rollups allows Ethereum to focus on security and decentralization, delegating throughput to specialized layer-2 solutions.

## **Conclusion: EIP-4844 as a Transformative Upgrade**

EIP-4844 represents a transformative upgrade to the Ethereum protocol. By introducing blob-carrying transactions and paving the way for full Danksharding, it addresses the critical data availability bottleneck and unlocks the full potential of rollups. This upgrade will significantly reduce transaction costs, increase scalability, and enhance the security of the Ethereum ecosystem, making it more accessible and attractive to users and developers alike.

This comprehensive overview provides a deep understanding of EIP-4844, its technical specifications, and its impact on the future of Ethereum rollups. We hope that this analysis empowers you to grasp the nuances of this pivotal upgrade and appreciate its significance for the evolution of the Ethereum ecosystem. We at [revWhiteShadow](https://revwhiteshadow.gitlab.io), kts personal blog site, strive to bring you the latest and most comprehensive analysis.