Ethereum Sharding 2.0 时代：Danksharding 技术深度解析

From Problem to Solution: Why Does Ethereum Need Danksharding?

Ethereum’s network capacity is increasing day by day. As the application ecosystem expands and transaction volumes surge, on-chain congestion becomes frequent, and Gas fees remain high. The traditional single-chain processing model has clearly become a bottleneck. Danksharding emerged in this context.

This technical solution is named after Ethereum researcher Dankrad Feist and represents the most ambitious scalability plan in Ethereum 2.0’s upgrade roadmap. Unlike other sharding proposals, Danksharding adopts a unique single proposer architecture for blocks, significantly simplifying cross-shard communication complexity.

The Core Logic of Sharding: How Parallel Processing Enhances Network Efficiency

Imagine the workflow of a traditional Ethereum node: each validator must process, verify, and store all transactions on the network. This “all-in-one” design ensures decentralization and security but also introduces obvious efficiency bottlenecks.

Sharding employs a “divide and conquer” strategy. The network no longer requires all nodes to process all transactions but instead splits them into multiple independent shards, each handling its own subset of transactions. For example, one shard might handle accounts starting with A-E, while another handles F-J. This reduces the load on each shard dramatically, allowing the overall system throughput to grow exponentially.

The Fundamental Difference Between Danksharding and Traditional Sharding

On the surface, Danksharding is just an optimization of sharding, but its design philosophy differs fundamentally.

Traditional sharding schemes often use a multi-proposer model—each shard has its own proposer. This leads to complex and inefficient data synchronization and validation between shards.

Danksharding’s innovation lies in introducing a single proposer system. The entire network has only one proposer responsible for generating data for all shards, which is then distributed via “blob-carrying transactions” (blob transactions). This design greatly simplifies the consensus process, reduces security risks, and maintains high scalability.

The Danksharding Architecture in Ethereum 2.0

In Ethereum 2.0’s full vision, Danksharding will divide the network into 64 shard chains, each independently processing transactions and smart contracts. These shards are coordinated through the Beacon Chain to achieve final data consistency.

The Beacon Chain uses a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism, responsible for:

• Random validator assignment and rotation
• Oversight and incentives for shard chains
• Final confirmation of cross-shard transactions

This layered architecture enables Ethereum to maintain decentralization and security while achieving transaction throughput of over 100,000+ TPS.

Proto-Danksharding: The Intermediate Step Toward the Future

Before full deployment of Danksharding, Ethereum adopts a phased upgrade strategy. Proto-Danksharding (also known as EIP-4844) was introduced in the Cancun upgrade, marking the beginning of the Layer 2 scaling era.

The core improvement of Proto-Danksharding is the introduction of dedicated data storage space for Rollup transactions, significantly reducing transaction costs for Layer 2 users. Although its throughput is lower than full Danksharding (expected 100-10,000 TPS), its role is crucial—laying the foundation for explosive growth in the Layer 2 ecosystem.

Synergy Between Layer 2 and Danksharding

A common misconception is that full Danksharding will render Layer 2 solutions obsolete. In fact, they are complementary.

Layer 2 Rollups (such as Arbitrum, Optimism) scale by moving computation off-chain and only publishing compressed data on-chain. The blob space introduced by Proto-Danksharding offers these Rollups a cheaper data publication venue.

In the future, once Danksharding is fully deployed, these Rollups will be able to submit data to the main chain with lower latency and costs, further optimizing the entire ecosystem’s economics.

Impact of Danksharding on Smart Contract Development

From a developer’s perspective, the arrival of Danksharding will bring new programming paradigms.

Deploying cross-shard smart contracts becomes possible but more complex. Developers need to consider:

• How contract logic is distributed across multiple shards
• Cross-shard call latency and costs
• State management consistency in a distributed environment

However, the Ethereum community is exploring high-level abstractions and development tools to make these complexities transparent to application developers.

Security Considerations and Risk Assessment

While Danksharding greatly enhances throughput, it also introduces new security considerations:

Inter-shard communication risks: Malicious participants might attempt a 51% attack on a single shard. Danksharding’s design mitigates this risk through randomized validator assignment but cannot eliminate it entirely, requiring ongoing oversight.

Data availability: If proposers act dishonestly, they might refuse to publish some transactions. This is a theoretical risk for Danksharding, addressed through complex cryptographic verification mechanisms.

Transition risks: Moving from the current architecture to full Danksharding requires careful coordination. Any improper upgrade could cause network splits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: When will Danksharding go live?
A: Full deployment is expected around 2025-2026. Proto-Danksharding has already been activated in the Cancun upgrade.

Q: What changes will regular users notice?
A: The most direct changes are lower transaction fees and faster confirmations. For most users, these improvements will be most noticeable on Layer 2.

Q: Will hardware requirements for running an Ethereum node change?
A: Full node storage requirements won’t increase significantly (since shard data will eventually be pruned), but network transmission will increase. Light clients will experience notable improvements.

Q: Will Danksharding affect Ethereum’s decentralization?
A: No. On the contrary, by reducing the computational burden on individual nodes, Danksharding may encourage more participants to run nodes, enhancing decentralization.

Q: Are other blockchains researching similar solutions?
A: Yes. Polygon, Polkadot, and others have their own sharding proposals, but Ethereum’s Danksharding, with its innovative proposer design and robust security model, is widely regarded as the most mature solution in the industry.

Long-term Impact of Danksharding on the Ethereum Ecosystem

From an ecosystem evolution perspective, Danksharding is not just a technical upgrade but a paradigm shift. It signifies Ethereum’s transition from a “single monolithic chain” to a “sharded ecosystem chain.”

This means:

• Multi-chain applications: Decentralized apps can deploy across multiple shards, achieving true cross-shard liquidity
• Layer 2 integration: The boundary between main chain and Layer 2 will become increasingly seamless
• Development paradigm iteration: New frameworks and languages optimized for sharded environments will emerge

Summary: Ethereum’s Next Key Step

Danksharding represents the Ethereum community’s systematic approach to scalability. It is not a blunt “add more chains” solution but a carefully designed architectural innovation that preserves decentralization and security while enabling a qualitative leap.

From the successful deployment of Proto-Danksharding to the upcoming full version, Ethereum is demonstrating its leadership as a blockchain infrastructure. Developers, users, and investors should all stay attentive to this upgrade—it will shape the crypto landscape for the next decade.