Ethereum stans are putting the Bee Movie on blobs for as little as $5

Less than thirteen minutes after the launch of Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade, developer Dan Cline uploaded the entire Bee Movie script on the mainnet, costing only around $14. He claimed to be the first to upload the script, taking advantage of the upgrade aimed at reducing fees on Ethereum layer 2s.

Background and Humorous Tradition:

Uploading the Bee Movie script is a humorous tradition in crypto circles, originating from a meme involving posting the full-length script across social media platforms. The script was uploaded at 2:08 pm UTC on March 13, just after the Dencun upgrade went live, costing $13.88.

The Dencun upgrade introduced blobs as a core feature, aiming to reduce transaction costs on layer-2 networks significantly. Blobs allow layer 2s to store data temporarily during transactions, resulting in cheaper costs for users.

Uploaded Bee Movie scripts, stored as blobs, will only exist on the Ethereum network for approximately 18 days before being pruned. This temporary nature aligns with the function of blobs in layer-2 networks.

Integration and Impact:

Various layer-2 networks, including Starknet, ZkSync, Optimism, and Base, have implemented blobs, leading to reduced transaction fees. Jesse Pollak, lead developer at Base, reported transaction fees falling from $0.31 to near-zero after integrating blobs.

The Dencun upgrade includes eight other Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) aimed at improving network functions. These upgrades, such as EIP-1153 and EIP-4788, are expected to enhance consensus, execution, and data costs on the network.

The reduction in fees on Ethereum layer 2s will be fully realized once networks integrate EIP-4844. At present, swap fees on networks like Arbitrum and Polygon remain relatively high, but developers anticipate significant fee reductions with the integration of EIP-4844.