Arbitrum rolls out 'Atlas' upgrade, begins using Dencun's blobs

Arbitrum (ARB) has successfully integrated Ethereum's Dencun upgrade into its ecosystem through the ArbOS 20 update, also known as "Atlas."

The purpose of Atlas is to reduce transaction fees (gas fees) on the Arbitrum One network by incorporating "blobs," a new layer-2 data storage mechanism introduced post-Dencun's successful deployment. This was implemented following a vote by the Arbitrum DAO, with approval reaching an overwhelming 99.76%.

The Dencun upgrade, deployed on March 13, equips layer-2 Ethereum networks with the critical EIP-4844 proposal, introducing a new block structure named "blobs" to store transaction data instead of the traditional "calldata" method. This significantly lowers transaction costs across layer-2 Ethereum networks, including Arbitrum.

To integrate blobs, layer-2 chains must update their software. Other layer-2 networks such as Optimism, Base, and Starknet have promptly adopted blobs post-Dencun, witnessing average gas transaction fees decrease by several orders of magnitude, with Arbitrum being the latest to follow suit.

For Arbitrum, its development unit Offchain Labs predicts the network's minimum base fee will decrease from 0.1 gwei to 0.01 gwei, marking a tenfold reduction. Previously, Arbitrum's average transaction fee was $0.5, with the Atlas upgrade potentially lowering it to around $0.05.

Offchain Labs also announced that several service providers, including Altlayer, Caldera, Conduit, and Gelato, will support the transition process for individual Orbit chains using Arbitrum Orbit—an toolkit enabling projects to launch layer-3 blockchains using Arbitrum as the foundational layer. Furthermore, Offchain Labs clarified that the ArbOS Atlas upgrade can be implemented by Orbit chains without requiring approval from Arbitrum DAO's governance process.

Arbitrum is the most widely adopted layer-2 network on Ethereum, boasting a Total Value Locked (TVL) exceeding $3.5 billion, followed by Optimism with $1 billion TVL, and Blast.

At the time of writing, Arbitrum's ARB token is trading around $2, down 5% over the last 24 hours amidst the general cryptocurrency market adjustment on March 14, 2024.