The Hoodi testnet successfully activated Ethereum's Fusaka upgrade on Tuesday afternoon, completing the final testing phase before production deployment. Nethermind confirmed smooth upgrade execution after its validator client finished the fork, describing it as another key milestone toward Fusaka's mainnet release scheduled for around December 3.
Holesky and Sepolia testnets completed successful Fusaka deployments earlier this month before the Hoodi network activation. The upgrade implements multiple Ethereum Improvement Proposals targeting scalability and security enhancements across the network.
Key Scalability and Efficiency Enhancements
EIP-7594 introduces Peer Data Availability Sampling, enabling validators to process smaller data segments from layer2 networks rather than complete blobs. This mechanism boosts node efficiency while reducing transaction costs throughout the ecosystem. Additional proposals, including EIP-7825 and EIP-7935, focus on raising gas limits and improving efficiency as Ethereum prepares for parallel execution capabilities that allow simultaneous smart contract processing.
Zero-knowledge rollup improvements comprise another focus area within the upgrade package. Marius van der Wijden, an Ethereum core developer, previously estimated PeerDAS could expand blob space on transaction blocks by over 400%, significantly amplifying the cost-saving mechanisms introduced in earlier updates.
The 2024 Dencun upgrade introduced blobs that substantially reduced layer-2 gas fees through temporary rather than permanent data storage. Fusaka dramatically increases the space allocated for blobs on every transaction block, making this innovation considerably more impactful for network efficiency.
PeerDAS: A Leap in Layer-2 Scaling
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin described PeerDAS in September as the key to layer-2 scaling, noting it attempts something unprecedented by enabling a live blockchain without requiring any single node to download complete data. Core developers exercised caution by separating PeerDAS from May's Pectra upgrade to avoid overloading that update package, Buterin explained.
Fusaka's Phased Rollout and Future Roadmap
Fusaka execution occurs across three stages, beginning with mainnet launch, followed by activation of the blob capacity increase EIP, and concluding with the second blob capacity hard fork. Attention will shift to the Glamsterdam upgrade after Fusaka implementation, continuing the Surge stage of Ethereum's technical roadmap focused on enhanced scalability.
The blockchain trilemma coined by Buterin encompasses decentralization, security, and scalability, with Ethereum prioritizing the first two elements while rival layer-1 blockchains, including Solana and Sui, emphasize scalability for faster transactions. Fusaka arrives approximately six months after Pectra, Ethereum's last major upgrade, which focused on staking performance and wallet features for improved user interface and experience.