In the latest community meeting, Tim Beiko, Ethereum’s lead developer, provided insights into the upcoming developments for the network. Beiko highlighted the anticipated Dencun hard fork of the Goerli testnet, revealing plans for its execution in January 2024, contingent on the smooth progression of preparations. Most teams involved are reportedly ready for the testnet fork trial, and there are plans to conduct a Goerli shadow network fork in the ensuing weeks.
Dencun, encompassing EIP-4844, marks the imminent network upgrade for Ethereum and is slated to be the final fork deployed on Goerli. Although there is no definitive mainnet deployment date, the core developers are currently eyeing January for the transition from the Goerli testnet to Dencun. Some community members speculate that the mainnet shift might occur in March or April.
About Devnet 12, recently launched, it was reported that nearly all clients are operational on the new platform. Multiple errors at various clients, including Reth and Lighthouse, were identified and subsequently rectified. Notably, the Prysm Ethereum Client team is still absent from Devnet 12, focusing on ongoing work related to Blob caching and verification. They aim to join Devnet 12 within the next one or two weeks.
The development team is well-prepared for the upcoming testnet fork, with plans for a substantial Goerli shadow fork in the coming weeks. There is unanimous agreement among developers that, should these processes unfold smoothly, the Goerli fork date will be finalized early in 2024, with aspirations to activate Dencun on the network in January. The last ACDE meeting of 2023 is scheduled for December 21 at 22:00 Beijing time.
Ethereum: Shadow Fork On The Horizon
Looking ahead, discussions during the meeting centered on the teams’ readiness to progress toward forking testnets. A significant Goerli shadow fork is on the horizon, and pending any unforeseen issues, forking Goerli itself is deemed to provide the most valuable testing insights.
Prior statements from Ethereum client developers confirmed that the highly anticipated Dencun upgrade would not undergo deployment through a network hard fork before the close of 2023. Meanwhile, Ethereum has experienced notable price momentum, reaching $2,370, its highest point since June 2022. This surge is attributed to growing institutional interest in the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, propelling Ether’s price by 25.7% over the past 30 days. The sustained trading above $2,300 suggests an increasing focus on Ether, with a year-to-date price increase of 96.5%.