Try it Live
Run Blob examples in the interactive playground
Overview
EIP: 4844 - Shard Blob Transactions Status: Final (Deployed in Dencun upgrade, March 2024) Purpose: Temporary data availability for L2 rollupsKey Changes
- New Transaction Type - Type 3 (0x03) for blob transactions
- Blob Data - 131,072 bytes per blob, max 6 per transaction
- Separate Gas Market - Blob gas independent from execution gas
- Temporary Storage - Blobs pruned after ~18 days
- KZG Commitments - Cryptographic proofs for data integrity
Blob Structure
Field Elements
Blobs contain 4,096 field elements over BLS12-381 scalar field:Field Element Constraints
Each 32-byte element must be < BLS12-381 scalar field modulus:Transaction Format
Type 3 Transaction
Blob Sidecar
Blobs, commitments, and proofs are NOT included in on-chain transaction:blobVersionedHashes are stored on-chain permanently.
Complete Example
Blob Gas Market
Gas Parameters
Base Fee Adjustment
Blob base fee adjusts exponentially based on usage:Formula
Example Calculation
Versioned Hashes
Format
Computation
Version Byte
Data Availability
Retention Period
Pruning
After ~18 days:- Pruned: Blob data, commitments, proofs
- Retained: Versioned hashes (on-chain)
- Download blob data within retention period
- Store data locally for fraud/validity proofs
- Make data available to users (RPC nodes)
Example: L2 Data Recovery
KZG Commitments
Trusted Setup
EIP-4844 uses KZG commitments with trusted setup from KZG Ceremony:- Participants: 4,096+ contributors
- Security: Safe if at least 1 participant honest
- Powers of Tau: 4,096 (matching blob field elements)
Commitment Binding
Network Propagation
Mempool Inclusion
Blob transactions in mempool include full sidecar:- Transaction (with versioned hashes)
- Blobs (full 131,072 bytes each)
- Commitments (48 bytes each)
- Proofs (48 bytes each)
Block Inclusion
Blocks include only:- Transaction (with versioned hashes)
- Verify KZG proofs before including
- Publish blob sidecar to beacon chain
- Store blobs for retention period
Example: Validator Verification
Transaction Costs
Total Cost
Comparison with Calldata
Consensus Layer Integration
Beacon Chain Storage
Blobs stored in beacon chain for ~18 days:- Location: Separate from execution payload
- Access: Via beacon node API
- Pruning: Automatic after retention period
RPC Endpoints
Upgrade Path
EIP-4844 is step 1 of full danksharding:-
Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844) - Current
- 6 blobs per block (768 KB)
- KZG commitments
- Temporary storage
-
Full Danksharding - Future
- 64+ blobs per block (8+ MB)
- Data availability sampling
- Same commitment scheme
Resources
- EIP-4844 Specification - Official EIP
- KZG Ceremony - Trusted setup details
- Dencun Upgrade - EIP-4844 deployment
- c-kzg-4844 - Reference implementation
- Danksharding Roadmap - Full scaling plan
See Also
- Fundamentals - Blob basics and EIP-4844 overview
- KZG - KZG commitment scheme deep dive
- Usage Patterns - Real-world examples

