Ethereum developers are preparing for the network’s second upgrade of 2025 to go live on the blockchain’s mainnet on Wednesday.
Fusaka – a mix of the names Fulu + Osaka – consists of two upgrades that happen on Ethereum’s consensus and execution layers at the same time.
The goal of the upgrade is to enable Ethereum to handle the large transaction throughput from the layer-2 chains that use blockchain as their base layer. Fusaka consists of 12 code changes, also known as “Ethereum Improvement Proposals” (EIPs), that will make the layer-2 experience faster and cheaper.
The biggest change in Fusaka is known as PeerDAS, which allows validators to check only segments of data instead of full “blobs”, easing bandwidth requirements and lowering costs for both validators and layer-2 networks. Layer 2s currently send thousands of transactions to Ethereum via “blobs” where validators currently on the Ethereum blockchain must download all transaction data from the block to verify that it is accurate, creating bottlenecks. With this improvement, these validators only need to verify a fraction of a blob, speeding up the process and lowering the transaction fees involved.
Fusaka not only improves the layer-2 experience, but has improvements that also affect Ethereum itself, although they are much smaller. Changes include the maximum size of a single transaction, aimed at increasing security, as well as some new code aimed at making smart contracts more efficient.
Institutions are also increasingly aware of this upgrade. Earlier this month, Fidelity Digital Assets released a report saying Fusaka is a crucial shift towards a more strategically aligned and financially coherent roadmap.
Read more: Ethereum developers lock Fusaka upgrade to December 3rd with PeerDAS rollout
