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Fusaka is Ethereum’s 17th major upgrade
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Marks shift to a twice per year hard fork schedule
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Introduces PeerDAS to improve data availability
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Upgrade boosts blob capacity and stabilizes L2 fees
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Includes backend improvements for scaling and future security
Ethereum Begins Faster Upgrade Cadence With Fusaka
Ethereum has activated Fusaka, its latest major upgrade, kicking off the network’s new plan to release two hard forks every year. The update went live at the start of epoch 411392 and arrives only seven months after the Pectra upgrade, signaling a faster development cycle under the Ethereum Foundation’s updated leadership.
Fusaka includes nine core EIPs and several supporting proposals, making it one of the most extensive updates since the Merge.
PeerDAS Introduces a New Model for Data Availability
The headline feature of Fusaka is PeerDAS, a new data availability sampling method that allows validators to verify only small segments of data rather than downloading entire blobs. This change supports higher blob throughput for rollups while reducing node bandwidth requirements.
Ethereum developers plan additional Blob Parameter Only updates in January to raise blob limits, which could scale capacity by up to eight times. Fusaka also adds a minimum blob base fee and smoother fee adjustments during L2 demand spikes, improving predictability for rollups.
Backend Improvements Prepare Ethereum for Future Scaling
Beyond data availability, Fusaka introduces upgrades to gas limit rules, native support for the secp256r1 curve for better device based signing, and an opcode that improves zero knowledge efficiency. These changes aim to strengthen Ethereum’s backend rather than making large UX level changes.
Researchers are already working on the next upgrade, Glamsterdam, planned for 2026.
