Developers are finalizing the launch on December 3rd, introducing PeerDAS to improve transaction speeds and reduce costs across Layer 2 networks.
Ethereum’s next major upgrade, known as Fusaka, is scheduled to go live on December 3 after successful testing this week. Developers agreed on the date during a core team meeting on Thursday, confirming the network’s latest milestone toward greater scalability and efficiency.
The Fusaka update introduces a new data sampling method called PeerDAS, designed to reduce the computational load required to process data in layer 2 chains. This method expands the “BLOB” storage system first implemented in the 2024 Dencun upgrade, allowing more transaction data to be processed in each block and lowering costs for Layer 2 network users.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin explained that PeerDAS is critical for scaling, noting that this feature allows rollups to process a much larger number of transactions at minimal cost. PeerDAS is expected to improve speed and bandwidth efficiency without increasing hardware requirements by distributing storage and verification responsibilities across nodes.
Alex Stokes, one of the key developers who led Thursday’s meeting, said the community’s response has been very positive. “This is a really big deal,” he said after confirming the date.
This update follows previous upgrades (Dencun and Pectra) that introduced ephemeral data storage and expanded blob capacity. Fusaka builds on these changes by allowing the network to incrementally increase its blob limit without requiring a fully coordinated hard fork each time.
In addition to PeerDAS, the Fusaka release implements security and usability tweaks, including transaction size limits, gas cost recalibration, and new support for passkey-style authentication. These changes aim to improve the trustworthiness of validators and developers while making the network more accessible to regular users.
Ethereum prices showed little immediate reaction to the news, with ETH trading around $3,760, down about 2% for the week. While many developers see Fusaka as a long-term structural improvement that will strengthen the network’s capacity for growth, market observers remain divided on the short-term price impact.
The upgrade’s mascot, a zebra, symbolizes the striped distribution pattern of PeerDAS data columns. This is a visual nod to the network’s next step in expanding its global infrastructure.