> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://www.anandisheladiya.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://www.anandisheladiya.com/protocols/ercs-and-eips/eip-4844-proto-danksharding.md).

# EIP 4844 (Proto-Danksharding)

**EIP-4844**, also known as **Proto-Danksharding**, is a pivotal Ethereum upgrade that introduces a new transaction type called a **blob-carrying transaction**. It is designed specifically to improve **scalability for Layer 2 (L2) rollups** by drastically reducing the cost of **data availability** on Ethereum.

Rollups already scale Ethereum by executing transactions off-chain and posting compressed data back to Ethereum Layer 1 for security. However, until now, this data has been posted as **calldata** — a permanent, costly form of storage that competes directly with regular transactions for block space.

EIP-4844 changes this by introducing a new concept: **blobs**.

### What Are Blobs?

**Blobs** (Binary Large Objects) are large chunks of data that are:

* **Attached to special transactions** (blob-carrying txs)
* **Much cheaper to store than calldata**
* **Ephemeral**, meaning they are deleted from the network after \~2 weeks
* **Not accessible to the EVM**, so they cannot be read or interacted with by smart contracts directly

These characteristics make blobs ideal for rollups, which only need to publish data for a short time to maintain security and allow fraud or validity proofs to be verified.

### How Does It Work?

#### 1. **Blob-Carrying Transactions**

* A new transaction format includes up to 6 blobs.
* These blobs are posted alongside the transaction, but not included in Ethereum’s permanent state.

#### 2. **Data Availability & Verification**

* To ensure the data is available (even if pruned later), Ethereum uses **KZG polynomial commitments**.
* Validators do not need to download full blob data; they only verify **KZG commitments** and **proofs** to confirm the data was indeed posted.

#### 3. **Fee Market for Blobs**

* EIP-4844 introduces a **separate fee market** for blobs, using a mechanism similar to EIP-1559’s base fee adjustment.
* This ensures blob pricing is decoupled from regular gas fees and can scale independently.

### Why It Matters:

#### 1. Lower Costs for Rollups

* Posting blob data is significantly cheaper than calldata — early benchmarks show **5–10x+ cost reduction**.
* This leads to cheaper transactions on rollups like **Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync, Scroll**, and others.

2.  Higher Throughput

* With cheaper data availability, rollups can batch more transactions more frequently, boosting TPS (transactions per second) dramatically.

#### 3. Better UX at Scale

* Lower fees and faster confirmations directly improve end-user experience, especially in high-traffic dApps and gaming, social, and DeFi protocols.

### What Comes Next: Toward Full Danksharding

EIP-4844 is a **proto** implementation — it lays the groundwork for **full Danksharding**, Ethereum’s long-term sharding roadmap.

Future upgrades will:

* Introduce **more blob space per block**
* Rely more heavily on **data availability sampling** and **stateless clients**
* Decentralize the load by allowing validators to process only parts of the full data

Proto-Danksharding is Ethereum’s way of getting real-world scalability gains **today**, without waiting years for full sharding to be completed.

### Conclusion

EIP-4844 represents a significant evolution in Ethereum’s architecture — not just a patch, but a foundational shift toward **modular scalability**. By separating execution (L2s) from data availability (blobs), Ethereum strengthens its role as a **secure, decentralized base layer**, while enabling thousands of transactions per second via rollups.

This upgrade moves Ethereum closer to its vision: a globally accessible, low-cost, high-throughput infrastructure for the next generation of decentralized applications.