What it is
Blob transactions, also known as EIP-4844 or proto-danksharding, were introduced with Ethereum's Dencun upgrade in March 2024. This upgrade created a new, temporary data storage space called "blobs" (or "data blobs") specifically for Layer 2 rollup data. Instead of storing rollup transaction data permanently on the main Ethereum chain's call data, blobs allow rollups to post large amounts of data more cheaply and efficiently, with the data pruned after a few weeks.
Blob transactions significantly reduce the cost for Layer 2 rollups to post their data to the Ethereum mainnet, making L2 transactions cheaper for end-users. This innovation is crucial for Ethereum's scalability roadmap, as it directly lowers the operational costs for rollups. News reports frequently track the utilization and pricing of blobs, as they are a key driver of L2 gas fees. Retail investors benefit from this by experiencing lower transaction costs when using rollup networks.
Why it matters
Blob transactions make Layer 2 transactions cheaper on Ethereum, directly reducing your costs for using rollups.
Reviewed under editorial standardsUpdated September 26, 2026Not investment advice