UNCHAINED: How Ethereum’s Dencun Upgrade Could Lead to the Rise of Millions of Layer 3s

Base creator Jesse Pollak argues that much cheaper Layer 2 transactions, as well as other developments, will enable the creation of multitudes of specialized Layer 3s that are deeply connected to the onchain economy. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Ethereum’s long-awaited Dencun upgrade finally went live this week, and many L2s immediately saw their transaction fees fall dramatically, as was the intention. Among them was the Coinbase-incubated Base, which was created by Jesse Pollak. Pollak joined Unchained to discuss the impact Dencun was having on Base; how he thinks Layer 1s and Layer 2s will start to differ from one another and eventually spawn a multitude of specialized Layer 3s; his response to criticisms of the increasing use of Layer 2s, what he’s focusing on now, and why he supports using the word “onchain” over “crypto” or “web3.” Show highlights: The problem that Dencun is trying to solve The benefits of blobs and blobspace How Dencun has already reduced Base’s fees, but also increased its transactions How Jesse thinks Layer 1s and Layer 2s will start to become differentiated from each other The rise of Layer 3s How Jesse addresses criticisms of fragmentation and centralization arising from the increasing use of Layer 2s Why Jesse is particularly excited about two features of the Dencun upgrade—transient storage and increased composability between L1s and L2s What Jesse and the Base team are focusing on now Why Jesse thinks that “onchain” is a better word to describe the industry than “crypto” or “blockchain” or “web3” Thank you to our sponsors! iTrustCapital | Polkadot |Uniswap Guest | Jesse Pollak, creator of Base at Coinbase Previous appearances: The Chopping Block: All About That Base With Jesse Pollak Links | Recent coverage on Unchained of the Dencun Upgrade and Base: Dencun Day One: Ethereum Layer 2 Networks See Drastic Drop in Transaction Fees Ethereum Completes Milestone Dencun Upgrade, Which Should Substantially Reduce Fees How Much Will the Dencun Upgrade Really Reduce Ethereum Layer 2 Fees By? Why Base’s Creator Thinks Social Apps Will Be a ‘Huge Part’ of the Layer 2 Blockchain’s Success CoinDesk: Debating Dencun: Will Ethereum's Big Update Help or Harm the Network? Jesse’s tweets on Dencun October 2022 | January 2024 | March 13, 2024 Blobs / Proto-danksharding EIP-4844 proposal Blobs unleashed: Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade activates on mainnet Base says it will support EIP-4844 from 'day 1' following Dencun upgrade Ethereum stans are putting the Bee Movie on blobs for as little as $5 Superchain Decentralizing Base with the OP Stack and Optimism Base’s Commitment to Decentralization with the Superchain - Unchained Podcast is Produced by Laura Shin Media, LLC. Distributed by CoinDesk. Senior Producer is Michele Musso and Executive Producer is Jared Schwartz. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.