Ethereum Activates Fusaka on Mainnet

Fusaka Goes Live and Kicks Off Ethereum’s Faster Upgrade Cycle

Ethereum has officially activated the Fusaka upgrade, marking a turning point in how the network evolves. Introduced at epoch 411392, the upgrade represents one of Ethereum’s most important milestones since the Merge - not just for its technical improvements, but for its signal that Ethereum will now deploy major updates twice per year. As the Ethereum Foundation put it, this accelerated cadence shows the chain is “entering a new era of rapid iteration.” 

Industry devs argue that this upgrade is proof the newly reorganized Ethereum Foundation can now deliver more frequent hard forks - a key concern after years where major updates came only annually.

PeerDAS Arrives: Ethereum’s Biggest Data Upgrade Since Blobs

The centerpiece of Fusaka is PeerDAS (Peer Data Availability Sampling) - introduced through EIP-7594, and described by the Foundation as the largest overhaul to data handling since Ethereum added blobs in 2024’s Dencun upgrade. 

PeerDAS allows validators to sample pieces of data instead of downloading full blobs, massively improving efficiency. The Foundation emphasized that the system is designed to “support higher blob throughput without increasing node bandwidth requirements” allowing Layer-2 rollups to scale dramatically without sacrificing decentralization.

Developers expect L2 transaction fees to drop sharply, with much higher blob capacity now achievable safely on Ethereum’s base layer.

Blob Capacity Set to Surge Up to 8x in Early 2026

Bundled with PeerDAS are new parameters that will incrementally push Ethereum’s blob limits upward: 

• The per-block blob target will rise to 14

• The maximum blob count will expand to 21

• Ethereum expects an 8x overall blob capacity increase following Fusaka

The upgrade also adds a blob base fee minimum to fix a post-Dencun issue where blob fees occasionally fell near zero due to low activity. According to the Foundation, these pricing adjustments will make L2 fees more predictable, while helping maintain consistent levels of ETH burn. 

Kraken’s Head of Onchain Calvin Leyon called Fusaka “a major unlock for rollups” adding that the upgrade gives developers more blob space and smarter data availability “without making UX harder - the way scaling should feel.”

More Than Scaling: Fusaka Introduces Crucial Backend Improvements

While Fusaka is primarily known for PeerDAS, it also includes several backend improvements designed to future-proof the network. These include: 

• Raising the gas limit cap to prevent malicious high-gas transactions from clogging blocks

• Adding native secp256r1 support, enabling passkeys and device-level signing 

• Implementing EIP-7939, a new opcode improving zero-knowledge proof efficiency

• Strengthening defenses for potential post-quantum threats

Unlike May’s Pectra upgrade - which introduced major UX and staking changes - Fusaka focuses on deep infrastructure upgrades, helping Ethereum scale without increasing complexity for users.

Consensys noted that Fusaka delivers “some of the biggest gains in network scaling since the Merge in 2022” emphasizing its role as a foundation for future upgrades.