Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin revealed substantial updates on Ethereum this week. This is the third major upgrade after the Dencun upgrade on March 13, which reduced the costs for layer-2 transactions and improved data availability. The Dencun upgrade introduced the concept of proto-danksharding, also known as EIP-4844, which enabled the inclusion of data blobs in blocks. This upgrade improved the network’s efficiency and continued other earlier upgrades, such as the Merge and Shanghai upgrades.
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Ethereum Verge and Purge Upgrades Detailed
Following are the two next upgrades – the Verge and Purge. The Verge upgrade will implement Verkle trees that will bring full stateless clients and slash the cost of running a node. This can be expected to increase the gas limit of layer one by ten times with lower fees. Moreover, the Purge upgrade intends to help the EVM by eliminating features such as the SELFDESTRUCT opcode and the 2,300 gas stipend. It will make the EVM more easy to operate and more efficient.
Buterin also remarked that the ban on the SELFDESTRUCT opcode is almost complete. Though the opcode will be kept for the time being, Dencun effectively eliminated its most destructive property—the ability to alter as many storage slots as needed. This change is a major milestone towards simplifying the Ethereum protocol and enhancing its security and performance.
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Vitalik Buterin Reveals New ETH Upgrades
The Verge upgrade will also bring in Verkle trees, which will make the cost of running a node extremely low. This improvement is expected to double the layer-1 gas limit, enabling transactions at an affordable rate for users. In contrast, the Purge upgrade intends to clear the EVM of some features, including the SELFDESTRUCT opcode, as well as the 2,300 gas stipend. These changes are aimed at improving the efficiency of the EVM’s operations.
These updates can be considered part of Ethereum’s ongoing transformation into a better-forged blockchain. The addition of these new features and upgrades clearly shows that there is still a lot of work to improve Ethereum’s performance and security. As Ethereum evolves, these upgrades will become essential in keeping the blockchain network competitive in the future.
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Maxwell Mutuma
Maxwell is a crypto-economic analyst and Blockchain enthusiast, passionate about helping people understand the potential of decentralized technology. He writes extensively on topics such as blockchain, cryptocurrency, tokens, and more for top publications such as Coingape, Coin Edition, and The Coin Republic. His goal is to spread knowledge about this revolutionary technology and its implications for economic freedom and social good.