Of Data Availability & Danksharding

with @lera_banda @danboneh @rhhackett

This episode introduces concepts behind -- and applications of -- data availability sampling (DAS), a key piece of the puzzle that could help blockchains like Ethereum achieve full scaling. A low-overhead technique that uses random sampling of data to ensure that all necessary blockchain data has been made available to nodes without straining the network, DAS features heavily in a series of planned Ethereum upgrades called "Danksharding" [named to reference Ethereum Foundation researcher Dankrad Feist]. The next Danksharding milestone for Ethereum is an upgrade called EIP-4844, known as "Protodanksharding" [also named to reference Ethereum researcher Protolambda, now at OP Labs] -- which is planned for later this year.

Our expert guests include:

• Valeria Nikolaenko, a16z crypto research partner • Dan Boneh, Stanford cryptography professor and a16z crypto senior research advisor

...who discuss their recent piece on data availability sampling and Danksharding -- including a proposal they put forward to the improve current plans for upgrading Ethereum -- with Robert Hackett (a16z crypto features editor and head of special projects), based on a live conversation that took place recently on Twitter Spaces.

links to pieces/ topics referenced in this episode:

on data availability sampling and danksharding • , an overview and proposal / Valeria Nikolaenko & Dan Boneh on Proto-Danksharding, a technical analysis • / grizzly-answer-991 EIP-4844 • : the specification of ProtoDankSharding / Ethereum Foundation Proto-Danksharding FAQ • / Vitalik Buterin Danksharding workshop video • / Devcon (Oct 2022) 2D data availability with Kate commitments • discussion on commitments' expansion / Ethereum Research Forum a note on data availability and erasure coding • / Github

--- None of this is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information – including a link to a list of our investments.