EIP-4844 is an Ethereum upgrade that introduces a new way to carry large chunks of data called “blobs” alongside transactions. The goal is to cut costs for layer-2 rollups and improve network scalability. You may also see it called “Proto-Danksharding.” It shipped as part of Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade, which combines the Cancun update on the execution layer and the Deneb update on the consensus layer.
Ethereum’s roadmap moved from the idea of full execution sharding to Danksharding, and then to an interim step called Proto-Danksharding. The name comes from researchers Protolambda and Dankrad Feist. Proto-Danksharding focuses on making rollups scale by letting them post data more efficiently, without splitting Ethereum into transaction-processing shards.
EIP-4844 arrived in the Dencun network upgrade on March 13, 2024. “Cancun” refers to the execution-layer changes, and “Deneb” refers to the consensus-layer changes bundled into the same network release.
The upgrade adds a new transaction type that can include data blobs. Think of a blob as an extra payload that rides with a transaction but stays outside the EVM’s direct reach. This blob data is kept on the consensus layer for a short time and then pruned, which means nodes do not store it forever.
Blob-carrying transactions behave like regular transactions with a sidecar. The EVM cannot read the raw blob bytes, and the data is automatically deleted after a fixed window, usually one to three months. That temporary storage model helps rollups publish their data more cheaply than using calldata.
Rollups need to post batches of data back to Ethereum for security. With EIP-4844, those batches move into blobs that are cheaper than calldata and priced in a separate, two-dimensional fee market designed for future Danksharding. This lowers rollup costs and can translate to cheaper user transactions on layer-2 networks.
EIP-4844 does not deliver full Danksharding. Instead, it lays the groundwork by introducing blobs and the related fee mechanics so that Ethereum can later scale further with full Danksharding. In short, EIP-4844 is the step that gets the protocol ready for the bigger change.
EIP-4844 does not change how the consensus layer finalizes blocks, nor does it make the EVM process blob data. The feature is about data availability for rollups, not about executing more base-layer smart contract logic. It is a targeted scalability improvement aimed at today’s rollup-centric Ethereum.
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