The introduction of blobs during Ethereum's Dencun hard fork is a major development in blockchain technology. Blobs are data structures that allow for settlement via Layer 2 (L2), rather than using calldata. Blobs were created to improve Ethereum's scalability and efficiency, particularly for rollups, resulting in increased accessibility and cost-effectiveness.
As Ethereum shifts its attention from addressing the initial "zero-to-one" challenge to tackling "one-to-N" obstacles, the role of blobs becomes important in enabling this transition. The tool aims to improve the blockchain's capabilities and simplify its operations, paving the way for future scalability improvements and progress in application development.
In this article, we'll explore what blobs are, how the technology could influence decentralized applications (DApps), and how you can buy the blobs token.
TL;DR
Blobs improve the scalability and efficiency of Ethereum, particularly for rollups, offering easier and more affordable transactions.
As Ethereum progresses from its initial stages to handling multiple challenges, blobs play a crucial role in supporting this important transformation.
The role of blobs is crucial in streamlining blockchain processes and laying the foundation for future progress and growth.
EIP-4844 aims to enhance scalability and lower transaction fees on Ethereum by introducing "blobs," which can hold large amounts of data.
The Dencun upgrade, which includes EIP-4844, seeks to enhance the scalability and cost-efficiency of Ethereum, particularly for L2 solutions.
Understanding blobs and their role
Implementing proto-danksharding through EIP-4844 introduces a new concept called "blobs," which are substantial blocks of data stored on the Ethereum blockchain. These blobs aim to improve Ethereum's scalability by enabling the processing of larger amounts of data cost-effectively and efficiently.
Unlike traditional data handled by the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), blobs are stored through KZG cryptographic commitments to enhance the efficiency of L2 rollup methods.
Impact on gas fees and scalability
The introduction of blobs is expected to reduce gas fees significantly. By providing a specialized data layer that rollups can use, EIP-4844 increases the data space per block, thereby lowering costs. The development is significant because it doesn't fully incorporate data sharding but establishes a new transaction format and storage system on the beacon chain.
This supports scalability and paves the way for potential sharding implementations in the future. Blobs were created to meet the urgent demand for scalable solutions by providing a temporary solution until complete data sharding is accessible.
Their introduction is driven by the need to support rollups as a scalable, trustless solution for Ethereum despite the cost advantages rollups offer over the base layer. EIP-4844 seeks to mitigate the prohibitive fees of rollups by introducing this specialized data layer.
The Dencun Upgrade and its broader implications
Scheduled for activation with the Dencun upgrade, EIP-4844 is set to revolutionize Ethereum's infrastructure, making it more scalable, economical, and efficient for users and developers.
The Dencun upgrade adds cheaper data storage for L2 proofs by only requiring node operators to store this data for approximately 18 days. This period is considered long enough for all network participants to download and store the data, while also keeping hardware requirements manageable.
This approach benefits L2 rollups by reducing transaction costs and network load and enhancing Ethereum's infrastructure for future advancements. By leveraging KZG commitments for blob storage, EIP-4844 improves the overall efficiency of the Ethereum network.
What is the blobs token?
The blobs token is a new and inventive aspect of the Ethereum blockchain, intricately linked to the Dencun upgrade and EIP-4844.
The blobs token system is a crucial advancement in the Ethereum community that aims to solve problems with the blockchain's ability to handle a large volume of transactions and expensive gas charges, focusing on improving L2 solutions.
The division of assets into blobs tokens is fundamental as it supports Ethereum's larger objective of transitioning from tackling initial blockchain obstacles (the "zero-to-one" phase) to dealing with scalability and efficiency in a more dispersed setting (the "one-to-N" phase).
Applying the characteristics of blobs for tokenization allows Ethereum to process a greater number of transactions with greater efficiency, ultimately decreasing transaction costs and improving the user experience for DApps.
Technical mechanics of blobs
At the heart of the blobs token mechanism is "blob transactions." These transactions are integral to EIP-4844 and introduce large data packets (the blobs) that can be included in Ethereum blocks. Unlike typical Ethereum transactions, which are processed and stored permanently by the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), blobs provide a more scalable and cost-effective way to handle large amounts of data.
The EVM doesn't directly process blobs, but thanks to KZG cryptographic commitments, they can still be included in the blockchain. In other words, they can temporarily store data, which is especially advantageous for L2 rollup solutions requiring proofs to be submitted to the Ethereum mainnet for verification.
Using blobs allows these solutions to significantly decrease the amount of data they must permanently store, resulting in lower gas fees.
Integration with Ethereum for gas fee reduction
The addition of new transaction types and block header fields introduced by EIP-4844 enables the integration of blobs into Ethereum's infrastructure. Every block in Ethereum could contain a set number of blobs, each capable of holding a maximum of 128kb of information. Including blobs enables L2 solutions to transfer a considerable amount of data away from the mainnet, resulting in a notable decrease in gas fees.
The blobs mechanism's significance lies in its influence on gas fees. EIP-4844 establishes a distinct area for blobs in Ethereum blocks, resulting in a new gas market dedicated to blob storage. This market functions similarly to the current gas market but concentrates on the expenses related to storing blobs.
What makes blobs unique?
Blobs stands out from other tokens in the blockchain and crypto space due to its close relationship with Ethereum's structure, plus other key features.
Integration with Ethereum's blockchain: Blobs are intricately linked to Ethereum's Dencun upgrade, a significant development aimed at reducing gas fees and enhancing scalability by introducing data "blobs." The introduction of blobs is a significant milestone in Ethereum's continuous growth.
Meme integration into blockchain technology: Blobs stands out for its incorporation of memes, which gives it cultural significance and sets it apart as a creative method for connecting with and growing the crypto community. Combining humor and technology, blobs uses the power of meme culture to establish a distinctive presence in the world of digital assets.
Enhancing Ethereum's scalability and efficiency:
Ethereum's proto-danksharding, a precursor to full sharding, introduces blobs to address scalability challenges. Blobs act as short-term, effective containers for transaction information, simplifying verification procedures and minimizing storage expenses.
The implementation of blobs is predicted to decrease charges on L2 platforms by lessening Ethereum's data storage responsibility. This in turn allows for quicker transaction handling at a reduced cost. This technological advancement directly benefits users by making Ethereum-based transactions more cost-effective.
Community and developer engagement: Ethereum's incorporation of blobs demonstrates the project's adaptive response to community input and technical obstacles. By tackling issues such as costly gas fees and network congestion, the project showcases a dedication to enhancing user satisfaction and broadening the reach of DeFi applications.
Potential for widespread impact: Blobs have the potential to contribute significantly to the wider usage of Ethereum and its related technologies by making transactions more convenient and cost-effective. This incorporation hints at a future where blockchain is easier to use, has a greater reach, and is more ingrained in mainstream society.
Blobs' unique position at the intersection of technological innovation and meme culture enhances its appeal to diverse users, from crypto-curious to crypto natives.
How to buy blobs
When purchasing blobs tokens, you typically follow a process similar to buying other cryptocurrencies via DeFi platforms.
Select a crypto wallet: To store your purchased tokens securely, it's essential to select a crypto wallet compatible with the blockchain network on which blobs tokens operate.
Purchase a base crypto: You may need to hold ETH before exchanging it for blobs tokens on networks such as Ethereum. This process involves purchasing the primary currency on a crypto platform using currencies such as USD or EUR.
Transfer to your wallet: Transfer the main digital currency to your preferred wallet and make sure you hold a small additional amount for gas fees.
Choose a DeFi platform: Find DeFi platforms or DEXs that offer blobs tokens for trade. Popular options include platforms such as Uniswap that specialize in Ethereum-based tokens.
Swap for blobs tokens: Connect your wallet to the chosen DEX, select the base cryptocurrency and blobs tokens for the swap, and execute the trade. Remember, transaction fees will apply, and they vary by network.
Storing and managing your tokens: After making a purchase, you can control your blobs tokens through your wallet. You're able to keep, stake, or use them in DeFi applications according to your strategy.
What are the potential uses and applications of blobs?
Blobs could have a significant impact on the Ethereum ecosystem, with many potential use cases possible.
L2 optimization
Blobs are commonly used in L2 solutions, specifically for handling settlement data. This allows L2 networks to efficiently settle transactions on the Ethereum base layer (L1), significantly decreasing operational expenses.
Rollups and data availability
Rollups have the potential to profit significantly from blobs as they group transactions and handle them outside the main Ethereum chain. By storing transaction information in blobs, rollups can increase their transaction capacity while reducing costs compared to using the Ethereum main chain. This ultimately improves their efficiency and scalability.
Creation of new data markets
Beyond rollups, blobs could enable the creation of new types of decentralized data markets on Ethereum. These markets could facilitate secure and efficient data buying and selling, leveraging the decentralized and secure nature of the blockchain.
DApps
Blobs open new possibilities for DApps, especially those requiring the decentralized storage and sharing of large data sets. They can be used to manage data in a variety of applications, including decentralized file storage systems and data-heavy scientific research platforms.
Network efficiency and lower fees for users
The arrival of blobs offers the typical Ethereum user the potential for quicker transactions and reduced fees, tackling two major concerns of users regarding the current state of the Ethereum network.
While the potential for blobs and the EIP-4844 upgrade is high, it's important to note that it's one step towards a bigger goal of full danksharding, which aims to further scale the Ethereum network by splitting it into multiple parallel chains. However, the immediate benefits, such as improved scalability, lower fees, and new applications for Ethereum, mark significant progress.
The development of blobs in tandem with EIP-4844 and future enhancements could play a significant role in defining the direction of DApps and the overall functionality of the Ethereum blockchain as it progresses.
What's next for blobs?
The roadmap ahead includes further enhancements to increase blob capacity and optimize rollups, alongside implementing data availability sampling (DAS) to allow for up to 16 MB of data space per slot.
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum's co-founder, detailed the future development directions for Ethereum. These directions outline two main strands: increasing blob capacity and improving L2 solutions to make better use of the available data space.
Innovations like PeerDAS aim to scale blobs while preserving network efficiency. And, advancements such as EIP-7623 will impose stricter bounds on execution block sizes, enhancing scalability. Buterin also highlighted the importance of efficient and optimistic data compression techniques to secure L2 solutions.
Looking at the bigger picture, Buterin has compared Ethereum's growth to an S-shaped curve, moving from quick advancement to a slower period of improving the user experience and introducing new applications.
This change highlights Ethereum's dedication to creating a decentralized platform that efficiently expands and provides a suitable setting for applications that use the blockchain's distinctive features.
Expanding our perspective beyond Ethereum and considering the larger cryptocurrency environment for potential advancements in 2024 would be wise.
For example, Algorand, along with other blockchain projects, is making notable advancements. Algorand's focus for 2024 is on improving its open blockchain platform, with a focus on enhancing performance and increasing decentralization. Adding dynamic round times and implementing Python for smart contract creation are intended to enhance network efficiency and grow the developer community.
Algorand plans to increase its network's decentralization by incentivizing consensus and transitioning to a peer-to-peer gossip network. The advancements in popular blockchain networks demonstrate a persistent emphasis on expanding efficiency and decentralization, suggesting a bright outlook for crypto's potential and the creative possibilities it'll bring.
The final word
Since launching, Blobs have had a major impact on improving Ethereum's scalability and efficiency, which is vital for the success of rollups. In short, this technology makes transactions more convenient and affordable. As Ethereum continues to develop and address difficult obstacles, blobs are instrumental in supporting progress.
Most significantly, introducing blobs through EIP-4844 and the Dencun upgrade aims to lower transaction fees and improve scalability for L2 solutions. As more users feel the benefits of blobs, many are looking ahead at what other possibilities the technology could bring to the blockchain space.
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