• Ethereum core developers activated Dencun upgrade on Holesky testnet on February 7, 2024.
• Holesky is the final testnet before mainnet deployment.
• ETH price rose slightly on Wednesday morning to trade above $2,370.

Ethereum has activated the Dencun upgrade on the Holesky testnet, going live approximately 6:35 am ET on Wednesday, February 7.

Nethermind, an Ethereum execution client, confirmed Dencun’s deployment on the Holesky testnet.

Holesky 🤝 blobs
Dencun is live on the Holesky testnet! Nethermind nodes are green 🟢

Mainnet, you’re next 🔜 pic.twitter.com/ZoQqxX4jnb

— Nethermind (@NethermindEth) February 7, 2024

With this milestone, Ethereum has moved closer to proto-danksharding (EIP-4844), which targets network improvements on the execution and consensus layers.  

EIP-4844, with blobs of data processing, targets scaling the network and lowering transaction costs for ETH dApps. It’s a significant development that could potentially boost the network and Layer 2 Rollup chains.

The implementation is the final testnet before the mainnet activation and comes after the deployment on the Goerli and Sepolia testnets on January 17 and January 30, 2024 respectively. The date for mainnet activation for Dencun will be announced after a core devs call later today.

Ethereum price

ETH price reacted slightly upward following the successful activation of Dencun on Holesky. 

At the time of writing, the cryptocurrency traded near $2,370, about 2% up in the past 24 hours. ETH has been ranged since the breakdown from highs near $2,700 in January.

However, analysts are bullish on Ethereum price as crypto eyes solid upside momentum in the next 12-24 months. Recently, analysts at Standard Chartered Bank said ETH could rally to $4,000 in May, with the spot Ethereum ETF approval one of the key tailwinds.