Ethereum is about to get a big update, but what is it called? 

You might have heard Proto-Danksharding, Dencun, Deneb, or Cancun. And all of those answers would be correct.

Why is this? How does Ethereum name its updates and why does it seem so confusing?

👇Read on to find out

Ethereum is about to get a big update, but what is it called? 

You might have heard Proto-Danksharding, Dencun, Deneb, or Cancun. And all of those answers would be correct.

Why is this? How does Ethereum name its updates and why does it seem so confusing?

👇Read on to find out

https://t.co/3jOd37zQoF

Every Ethereum update is actually 2 updates.

This is because Ethereum exists as 2 layers: 
1️⃣ Execution Layer - Where transactions and smart contracts live
2️⃣ Consensus Layer - Where Proof of Stake takes place

Updating Ethereum means updating each of these layers.

In the next update (set to take place on March 13):

🌆 The Execution Layer upgrade is called Cancun (as it hosted DevCon 3)

⭐️ The Consensus Layer upgrade is called Deneb (after a star in the constellation of Cygnus)

Most people don't care about the layer-level upgrades, they just care about the overall update to Ethereum. 

To keep things simple, Ethereans use a portmanteau of the 2 names to refer to the overall upgrade.

For the next update, the portmanteau is Dencun.

That leave each Ethereum update with 3 different names: 

1️⃣ The Execution Layer upgrade name
2️⃣ The Consensus Layer upgrade name
3️⃣ The portmanteau of 1️⃣ and 2️⃣

So that explains some of the naming confusion. 

But it still doesn't explain why some people talk about updates like 'Proto-Danksharding' or 'The Merge'.

Where do these come from?

Each update contains a number of small changes called EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals).

Most of the time, nobody outside of the developer community pays much attention to these changes.

Occasionally though, a particularly exciting EIP will gain a lot of attention.

Examples of especially hyped EIPs are: 

EIP-1559 - which I covered here https://medium.com/topic-crypto/everything-you-need-to-know-about-eip-1559-eip1559-explained-8332bb46306d

EIP-4844 (AKA Proto-Danksharding) - which I covered here

Examples of especially hyped EIPs are: 

EIP-1559 - which I covered here https://medium.com/topic-crypto/everything-you-need-to-know-about-eip-1559-eip1559-explained-8332bb46306d

EIP-4844 (AKA Proto-Danksharding) - which I covered here https://t.co/FD8F4sf7QL

These exciting changes tend to overshadow everything else that is included in an upgrade with them.

It didn't matter that the 'London' update contained 5 EIPs, people only cared about 1559.

Therefore, people would often say "1559" instead of "London".

Today, people are very excited about Proto-Danksharding and pretty much only talk about this element of the Dencun upgrade. 

As a result, you're more likely to hear someone say "Proto-Danksharding is coming" than "Dencun is coming".

The final element of the naming confusion is the use of terms like 'The Merge' and 'The Verge'. 

These comes from Ethereum's long-term, big-picture roadmap shown here:

The final element of the naming confusion is the use of terms like 'The Merge' and 'The Verge'. 

These comes from Ethereum's long-term, big-picture roadmap shown here:

https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1741190491578810445

That roadmap contains 6 sections:

1️⃣ The Merge
2️⃣ The Surge
3️⃣ The Scourge
4️⃣ The Verge
5️⃣ The Purge
6️⃣ The Splurge

The meaning of these sections isn't super important here, but if you want to learn more I'd recommend the recent overview by @bankless

What matters to us is that certain Ethereum updates are so significant in the delivery of one section of the roadmap that the name of that section might be used to refer to the specific update.

For example, people often spoke about 'The Merge' rather than the 'Paris upgrade'.

Similarly, one of Ethereum's upcoming upgrades is expected to introduce Verkle Trees -- a crucial part of the 'Verge' potion of the roadmap.

Therefore, I expect most people will use 'The Verge' instead of the official name for this upgrade.

Altogether, this leaves each Ethereum upgrade with multiple different names:

Officially, each upgrade has 3 names: 
1️⃣ The Execution Layer upgrade name
2️⃣ The Consensus Layer upgrade name
3️⃣ A portmanteau of 1️⃣ and 2️⃣ for the overall upgrade

But people use unofficial names too

Sometimes, these unofficial names come from individual EIPs -- small-scale changes that may represent a fraction of the overall update.

Other times, they come from Ethereum's big picture, long-term roadmap.

Check out the full-length version of this below, and please consider sharing if it was interesting. 

📺 Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/vmY-wYMYbfQ

📖 Read it here:

Check out the full-length version of this below, and please consider sharing if it was interesting. 

📺 Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/vmY-wYMYbfQ

📖 Read it here: https://t.co/3jOd37zQoF

Each of those layer-level upgrades gets its own name.

Execution Layer updates are named after cities that hosted DevCon, an Ethereum conference, and follow the order that those conferences were held in.

Consensus Layer updates are named after stars and go in alphabetical order.