Gnosis Chain Activates Dencun Hard Fork Ahead of Ethereum

According to Blockworks, Gnosis Chain, formerly known as xDai Chain, has activated the Dencun hard fork ahead of Ethereum. Gnosis Chain is a proof-of-stake blockchain designed to maintain full Ethereum compatibility, including the ability to directly implement all hard-forks. The Dencun upgrade aims to scale Ethereum through layer-2 networks by introducing a new dedicated data storage channel called blobs, which will significantly reduce transaction costs on Ethereum rollups. Infrastructure director Phillippe Schommers explained that Gnosis Chain aims to stay exactly like Ethereum, allowing applications developed for Ethereum to seamlessly transition to Gnosis Chain. The Dencun hard fork went live without any reported errors, and the chain is now finalizing with blobs, according to Ethereum core developers. Gnosis co-founder Martin Koeppelmann predicts that rollups will not reach sub-cent transaction fees, but the introduction of layer-2s on Gnosis Chain will help scale the network. One of the first applications of layer-2s on Gnosis Chain will be for Gnosis Pay, a payments network currently operating on the base layer. The network plans to migrate to layer-2s, potentially segregated by jurisdiction, to facilitate regulatory compliance. As the infrastructure develops, the focus will shift to creating apps that appeal to non-technical users and making the transition between Ethereum and layer-2 networks seamless.