The easiest-to-understand Fusaka science popularization on the entire network: A comprehensive analysis of Ethereum upgrades and their ecological impact

Ethereum spot ETF rebounded with net inflows last week after a weak period, and market sentiment is gradually warming up. Ethereum’s next upgrade is also on the way.

Looking back at history, almost every technical upgrade has served as a price catalyst, with on-chain performance improvements directly reflected in ETH valuation expectations.

This time, the Fusaka upgrade arriving on December 3rd is broader in scope and deeper in impact.

It is not just an efficiency optimization but a significant upgrade to the entire Ethereum mainnet: Gas costs, L1 throughput, L2 capacity, node requirements… nearly every core metric that determines network vitality has taken a major step forward.

If past upgrades made Ethereum “cheaper” or “faster,” Fusaka’s significance lies in making Ethereum more scalable and sustainable.

As protocol functionalities become increasingly complex, the demands on the underlying chain’s capacity rise, especially with the emergence of AI Agents and high-frequency interactive DApps. This upgrade will directly influence Ethereum’s position in the next wave of Web3 applications.

So, what exactly has changed? If you want a quick overview, here is a one-page infographic of all the core changes brought by the Fusaka upgrade:

Improvements & Corresponding Mechanisms:

• DeFi & High-Frequency/Interactive DApps & Wallet & UX & Stablecoins & Payments & Institutional/Asset Tokenization & Staking & Security & Developer & Innovation

Gas Fee Reduction:

• Blob Pricing Mechanism (EIP-7918): Lower upload costs for rollups; more stable gas prices.
• L2 Upload Cost Drop → Cheaper rollup transactions; less gas volatility → Smaller DEX slippage.
• Cheaper game/NFT state writes; microtransactions supported.
• Predictable transfer fees → Better UX.
• Stablecoin transfers <$0.001 → Micro-payments feasible.
• Institutions can migrate large assets to L2 at lower costs.
• Validator fee stability → Higher participation.
• More stable, less volatile fee rates, avoiding sharp short-term gas or Blob fee swings.
• Developers can set on-chain service prices without concern.

Chain Capacity & Throughput:

• Block gas limit increased to 150 million (from 45 million).
• More transactions per block → Deeper order books, less flash loan congestion.
• Higher throughput per block reduces queuing, improves experience.
• Faster wallet transfers, UI can show “instant” confirmation.
• Large stablecoin batch settlements within a single block.
• One-time large token issuance settlements.
• Larger block capacity ensures validator reward stability.
• Multi-step DeFi strategies executable within a single block, lowering gas.
• Data capacity & L2 scaling:
  • PeerDAS Rollup can store richer order book data, reducing off-chain reliance.
  • 8x Blob capacity → Low-cost on-chain storage for game states, AI snapshots, NFT metadata.
• Wallets reduce off-chain queries → Faster UI loading.
• Stablecoin issuers can embed compliance data directly on-chain.
• Institutions can attach legal docs, KYC hashes, audit trails.
• Validators only need to download 1/8 of Blob → Feasible for home nodes.
• Some complex computations and state validations can be done directly on-chain.

Transaction Speed & Pre-Confirmation:

• Blob channel expansion + pre-confirmation (EIP-7917): Near-instant transaction confirmation → Reduced front-running.
• Faster confirmation → Real-time multi-party experience.
• Wallets show “pre-confirmed” instantly → Eliminates waiting anxiety.
• Payment apps can immediately show “sent.”
• Institutional settlement locked before block closure → Ensures execution price.
• Faster block finalization → Quicker validator sync, fewer orphaned blocks.
• Developers can design faster on-chain matching engines.

Network Scaling Path (BPO Fork):

• BPO (Blob Parameter Only) fork mechanism.
• EIP-7892: No hard fork needed for TVL growth → Stable DEX liquidity.
• Game developers can plan long-term capacity upgrades via lightweight BPO forks.
• Wallets benefit from predictable upgrade paths → No UI disruptions.
• Payment systems can plan capacity upgrades in advance, avoiding interruptions.
• Protocol expansion confidence for institutions.
• Validator incremental upgrades → Stable hardware requirements.
• Contract design with future scalability in mind, easily handling chain capacity growth.
• Validator hardware reduction:
  • PeerDAS stores 1/8 data + random sampling verification.
  • More diverse validators → Decentralization & DeFi security.
• Game Rollup relies on robust decentralized validator network.
• Users perceive higher network stability → Wallet reliability.
• Payment Rollup benefits from geographically distributed validators → Lower latency.
• Increased decentralization, enhanced security.
• Lower entry barriers → Home node staking feasible → Higher participation, decentralization.
• Researchers can run testnets on low-spec hardware → Accelerate innovation.

Cryptography & Compatibility:

• CLZ opcode & secp256r1 precompile:
  • Faster ZK proof verification → Lower-cost private transactions.
  • On-chain AI inference feasible, reducing gas.
  • Wallet signature verification faster → Better UI responsiveness.
• Payment protocol supports secp256r1 → Lower verification costs.
• Institutions can use P-256 for compliant tokenization.
• Faster validator verification → Lower CPU load, more nodes supported.
• Developers can build advanced cryptographic primitives (threshold signatures, batch verification).

Account Abstraction & Passkeys (ERC-20 Payments):

• Gas → Lower barrier for DeFi onboarding.
• Game accounts can be created via biometric login instantly, enabling quick access.
• Passwordless login → Smoother on-chain experience, higher wallet usage.
• Merchants can accept payments without managing ETH.
• Institutions can integrate hardware key signatures into compliance workflows.
• Validators support abstract accounts → Simplified node management.
• Contract wallets can choose gas payment methods, natively support biometric and hardware key login, passwordless, secure, user-friendly.
• Developers gain more flexible on-chain account design.

Next, we will explain the core logic of the Fusaka upgrade from both technical and practical impact perspectives.

This is not just a technical report for developers; we will use simple language understandable even to non-technical readers to help you quickly grasp the key changes behind this upgrade. If you’re not interested in the mechanics, feel free to skip to the latter part to see how this upgrade will affect the Ethereum ecosystem and user experience.

Fusaka Core: Further Scaling

The main goal of these technical improvements is straightforward: to achieve further scalability while ensuring security and decentralization.

PeerDAS: From Full Storage to Sampling Verification

Blob is a new data structure for storing large amounts of on-chain data—bundling Layer 2 transactions into a “big box,” similar to a courier transporting many packages efficiently without occupying permanent storage.

Before Fusaka, each node had to store all Blob data fully, like a warehouse full of packages, leading to overload and high bandwidth costs.

PeerDAS proposes a more elegant solution: instead of full storage, nodes store only a random sample of data slices.

• Storage: Each Blob is sliced into 8 parts; nodes randomly store only 1/8, with others distributed across the network.
• Verification: Random sampling ensures data availability with error probability as low as 10^(-20) to 10^(-24). Erasure coding allows quick retrieval of missing slices for reconstruction.

This seemingly simple approach is a major breakthrough in data availability: reducing node burden 8-fold, easing network bandwidth, and shifting storage from centralized to distributed, enhancing security.

Blob Pricing Mechanism:

In Dencun, Blob data costs are dynamically adjusted based on demand, but there are limitations:

• When demand drops sharply, costs nearly hit zero, not reflecting actual resource usage.
• When demand surges, costs spike instantly, increasing rollup costs and block delays.

This volatility stems from the protocol’s inability to perceive the full price structure, only adjusting based on short-term consumption.

Fusaka introduces EIP-7918 to address this: it sets a reasonable price range for Blob uploads, adding a floor price to prevent costs from dropping too low and capping rapid increases during high demand.

EIP-7892 further enhances Layer 2 friendliness by allowing the network to dynamically adjust Blob capacity, quantity, and size without full hard forks, making system responses more flexible and scalable.

Security & Usability:

• Security: While scalability increases transaction volume, potential attack surfaces like DoS are mitigated by the existing robust security framework. The upgrade adds multiple layers of control—like regulating transaction load, size, and block capacity—to maintain network stability under increased load.
• Usability: Pre-confirmation allows users to lock in transaction slots early, enabling near-instant finality and reducing front-running. Developers can optimize execution environments, support hardware keys, biometrics, and simplify account management, improving user experience.

Practical Impact:

Beyond technical details, what does this mean for users and the ecosystem?

• Staking Becomes More Accessible and Secure: With PeerDAS, validating Ethereum nodes requires less bandwidth and storage—about 8 times less—making it feasible for ordinary households with standard internet speeds to run full nodes and participate in staking. This democratizes network participation, enhances decentralization, and stabilizes staking risks.
• High-Frequency & Real-Time Applications: Fusaka enables Ethereum to support real-time, high-frequency interactions—like instant payments, AI agents, and DeFi protocols—by increasing throughput, lowering costs, and reducing confirmation times. For example:
  • DeFi protocols like Aave and Synthetix will see shorter liquidation windows, lower fees, and faster settlement.
  • High-volume DEXs will experience less slippage and better liquidity utilization.
• Enhanced Ecosystem Resilience & Innovation: The upgrade’s scalability, security, and flexibility lay a foundation for future innovations, allowing developers to build more complex, efficient, and user-friendly applications.

In summary, Fusaka is poised to be one of the most significant upgrades since Ethereum’s Merge and Dencun, unlocking new levels of capacity, security, and usability. Its impact on data capacity (8x increase), transaction costs, throughput, validator participation, and ecosystem robustness will likely usher in a new era of growth and innovation for Ethereum.

Keep a close eye on this upgrade—whether it sparks a new growth cycle or not, it will undoubtedly reshape the Ethereum landscape.