NFT REVIEW What the 2025 Fusaka Upgrade Means for Ethereum Users

Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade arrives as one of the network’s most important milestones since The Merge. It lands on December 3, 2025, bundling improvements from both the execution layer (Osaka) and the consensus layer (Fulu). This combined update pushes Ethereum closer to true global-scale throughput while keeping decentralization, security, and affordability at the center of its roadmap. Developers, investors, node operators, and everyday users all stand to gain from its smarter data processing, cheaper Layer-2 activity, and smoother user experience.

Fusaka follows major steps like Dencun’s “blob” data system and Pectra’s account abstraction, expanding them into a larger growth phase for Ethereum’s roadmap. Fees drop. Performance rises. Light clients become practical again. Rollups gain far more space to grow. And the Ethereum base layer moves closer to supporting 100,000+ transactions per second across the broader ecosystem.

Why Fusaka Matters Now

Ethereum spent years maturing from an experimental smart-contract platform into a global financial and application settlement layer. The shift from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake in 2022 set the foundation. Data-blobs introduced in early 2024 made rollups dramatically cheaper. Pectra unlocked smarter wallets and account abstraction.

Fusaka takes those pieces and builds the next stage of scale. It offers:

• Far more room for Layer-2 systems

• Dramatically lower operating costs for rollups

• Cleaner on-chain data and slimmer nodes

• Faster confirmations and passkey-based onboarding

• More predictable blob pricing for developers

• Greater accessibility for solo validators

This combination makes Ethereum feel faster and cheaper without sacrificing decentralization—an outcome many engineers once doubted would be possible.

Development Journey and Activation Timeline

Ethereum upgrades pass through an intense stress-testing process. Fusaka followed that pattern over the course of 2025.

Key Milestones

• Post-Pectra planning: Engineers agreed on goals for scaling, pruning, and fee stability.

• Scope freeze (mid-2025): The list of EIPs was locked to keep development focused.

• Devnet-3 (summer 2025): Early validation of PeerDAS, the headline feature that changes how nodes verify rollup data.

• Testnets:

• Holesky — October 1, 2025

  • Sepolia — October 14, 2025

  • Hoodi — October 28, 2025 (full PeerDAS integration confirmed smooth operation)

• Mainnet lock-in — October 30, 2025: Confirmed in an All Core Devs Consensus call led by Ethereum Foundation researcher Alex Stokes.

• Bug bounty: Rewards up to $2 million for critical findings.

Node operators must update their execution and consensus clients prior to the fork. ETH holders aren’t required to do anything, as Fusaka doesn’t create competing chains or contentious changes.

Understanding the Name “Fusaka”

Ethereum development teams often combine cultural references with celestial themes. Fusaka merges “Fulu”, a star in the Cassiopeia constellation, with “Osaka,” the city that hosted Devcon V. It’s a symbolic nod to Ethereum’s global community and its space-inspired naming tradition.

Twelve Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) shape the upgrade. Although each contributes something different, they work together to extend Ethereum’s scale, efficiency, and user experience.

Below are the most influential changes and why they matter.

PeerDAS (EIP-7594): The Data Availability Leap

Peer Data Availability Sampling—commonly called PeerDAS—reshapes how Ethereum handles blob data from rollups. Instead of requiring nodes to download entire datasets, validators sample small coded fragments to ensure availability.

This shift produces dramatic benefits:

• Around 65% lower bandwidth consumption for nodes

• Blob capacity doubling (target jumps from 3 to 6; effective capacity up to 8× by early 2026)

• Much cheaper data for rollups, reducing fees by 40–90%

• Support for 10×+ throughput across leading Layer-2 networks

Sampling distributes the workload fairly so that no validator shoulders an unreasonable amount of data. That keeps the network open to smaller operators, which strengthens decentralization.

Gas and Block Structure Enhancements (EIP-7825 & EIP-7934)

Fusaka introduces smarter boundaries on transaction and block sizes.

EIP-7825: Max Transaction Gas Limit

A single transaction can no longer exceed 16.78 million gas. This prevents abusive transactions that could clog blocks and disrupt performance.

EIP-7934: Max RLP Block Size

A cap of 10 MB per block (RLP-encoded) encourages cleaner block construction and improves parallel execution. As a result, the base layer’s throughput rises from roughly 15–20 TPS into the 40–60 TPS range. It’s a meaningful jump for Ethereum’s foundational layer.

Blob Market Improvements (EIP-7892 & EIP-7918)

Rollup ecosystems rely heavily on blob pricing. Fusaka sets the stage for more stable and scalable fee behavior.

EIP-7892: Blob Parameter-Only Forks

Future blob upgrades can occur with far less friction. Engineers can adjust blob capacity without introducing major fork risk.

EIP-7918: Blob Fee Adjustments

Better pricing rules help developers forecast costs and maintain stable rollup fees. More blob usage also increases ETH burn through EIP-1559, creating positive supply pressure when on-chain activity rises.

History Expiry and Data Pruning (EIP-7642)

Ethereum nodes carry a large storage burden. Many operators face multi-terabyte requirements. Fusaka cuts this dramatically.

• Roughly 530 GB of old chain history is pruned.

• Nodes run lighter, enabling participation on consumer hardware.

• The update advances Ethereum’s goal of true lightweight clients, an essential step in the Verge and Purge phases.

A healthier node ecosystem means more decentralization and better long-term sustainability.

Verkle Trees (Partial Rollout)

Fusaka begins Ethereum’s shift from Merkle trees to Verkle trees, which reduce proof sizes and let light clients verify data with far less downloading. This transition lays groundwork for stateless clients—systems that won’t need full chain history to interact securely with Ethereum.

New Cryptography, Pre-Confirmations, and UX Enhancements

Proposer Lookahead & Pre-Confirmations

Proposers gain the ability to preview upcoming slots. Wallets and apps can deliver near-instant confirmations for simple transactions. Users will notice faster feedback and fewer delays during busy periods.

P-256 Support

Support for the secp256r1 elliptic curve (commonly used in mobile devices) unlocks:

This removes friction for newcomers, particularly those used to smartphone-based security.

EVM Performance Improvements

Several small but meaningful refinements streamline smart-contract execution. Developers gain smoother performance, lower gas for certain operations, and better support for high-frequency applications like gaming engines and DeFi strategies.

The influence of this upgrade stretches across every part of Ethereum’s modular stack.

Everyday Users: Cheaper and Faster Experiences

Rollups like Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, zkSync, Scroll, Linea, and Starknet benefit immediately from higher blob capacity and sampling-based data verification. Users will notice:

• Lower transaction costs across most Layer-2 platforms

• Faster transaction feedback through pre-confirmations

• Simpler onboarding with passkeys instead of seed phrases

Ethereum’s base asset, ETH, gains from increased network usage as higher blob throughput raises burn levels during periods of heavy demand.

Developers and Rollup Teams: A Larger Design Space

Fusaka gives developers more reasons to build:

• Up to 10,000+ TPS available for rollups

• Predictable blob markets for budgeting and scaling

• Cheaper calldata and lighter full-node requirements

• More flexibility to build appchains or specialized execution layers

This makes Ethereum competitive with high-speed monolithic chains—while keeping the modular design that prioritizes security.

Validators and Node Operators: Lower Costs, Higher Accessibility

PeerDAS dramatically cuts bandwidth and storage needs, which helps solo stakers operate nodes without specialized hardware. That strengthens Ethereum’s decentralization by encouraging more individuals to participate.

Validators with large stakes do handle a bit more sampling load, but the system balances responsibilities to avoid concentration.

Economic and Market Outlook

Analysts see Fusaka as a turning point for Ethereum’s value. Several reports cite macro factors combined with the upgrade’s timing:

• Fidelity Digital Assets notes new incentives for long-term ETH demand.

• Market strategists like Tom Lee forecast ETH above $2,500–$3,000+ in 2026.

• Institutions including BitMine increased exposure ahead of Fusaka.

Short-term volatility remains likely, especially with $12B+ in validator exits queued in late 2025, but the upgrade introduces smoother scaling paths that reduce long-term friction.

Discussion around Fusaka has been lively and optimistic.

On X (Twitter)

• Many traders highlight expectations for a 10× capacity boost across rollups.

• Developers praise PeerDAS and passkey support for improving UX.

• Vitalik Buterin has emphasized the importance of decentralization benefits emerging from sampling.

Some cautious voices question whether higher blob loads could challenge node diversity, though the sampling model aims to mitigate this risk.

On Reddit

Posts focus heavily on day-to-day advantages for users. Passkey adoption and cheaper L2 fees have gained strong support as signs that Ethereum is becoming easier for newcomers.

The upgrade doesn’t mark the end of Ethereum’s scaling journey. It sets the stage for what comes next.

Upcoming milestones include:

• Full Verkle tree migration

• Stateless-client compatibility

• Additional blob scaling through future BPO forks

• Further improvements to proposer-builder separation

• L3 networks and AI-powered agent ecosystems leveraging cheap L2 bandwidth

As Ethereum’s modular design expands, its role as a global settlement layer grows stronger.

Fusaka stands as a showcase of Ethereum’s maturity. It improves scale without pressuring decentralization. It cuts costs for developers and users in ways that matter today, not years from now. It lightens node requirements to bring more participants into the network. It sharpens the user experience with modern authentication and faster confirmations.

Ethereum has spent years preparing for this moment. Fusaka turns that preparation into a practical, visible shift in performance and accessibility across Layer-2 networks. Once the upgrade activates, expect activity across rollups to surge as builders explore new possibilities and adoption accelerates across finance, gaming, creative markets, and tokenized assets.