Ethereum Activates Fusaka Upgrade, Promising 8x Data Throughput Boost

Ethereum successfully activated its highly anticipated Fusaka upgrade on December 3rd at approximately 11:00 PM CET, marking what many consider the network's most significant development of the year ^[1]. The upgrade triggered at the start of epoch 411,392, bringing substantial improvements to scalability, security, and overall network performance ^[2].

Price Surge Ahead of Activation

The Ethereum price surged more than 8% in the 24 hours leading up to the upgrade activation, trading at $3,070.40 as of early morning EST, with trading volume spiking 16% to $29.81 billion ^[2]. The rally reflected growing market optimism about the technical enhancements being introduced to the blockchain.

Institutional interest appeared to strengthen ahead of the upgrade, with BitMine, the largest ETH treasury firm globally, acquiring significant holdings. According to on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain, a wallet linked to BitMine withdrew 30,278 ETH valued at $91.16 million from crypto exchange Kraken, following an earlier purchase of 18,345 ETH within 24 hours ^[2].

PeerDAS: The Centerpiece Innovation

The cornerstone of the Fusaka upgrade is PeerDAS (EIP-7594), which fundamentally changes how validators process data on the Ethereum network ^[1]. This technology optimizes the "blobs" introduced in the earlier Dencun update, enabling validators to process these data collections significantly faster ^[1].

Instead of requiring validators or nodes to download complete blobs of layer-2 data, PeerDAS allows nodes to randomly sample small portions of the data and verify availability ^[2]. According to Ethereum's official communications, this innovation unlocks up to 8x data throughput for the network ^[2].

For layer-2 solutions like Base, the improvements are substantial. Transaction speeds are expected to jump from 1,500 to approximately 10,000 transactions per second (TPS) ^[1]. The enhanced throughput also translates to cheaper blob fees and more space for rollups to expand ^[2].

Enhanced Block Capacity and Layer-1 Improvements

The upgrade introduces a higher block gas limit, allowing each block on the Ethereum network to store more transactions, contract executions, and layer-2 data ^[2]. This change directly addresses network congestion issues that have historically plagued the blockchain during periods of high demand.

Fusaka continues the layer-1 scaling efforts that began with the Pectra upgrade in mid-May ^[1]. The mainchain's architecture receives significant updates through the implementation of zero-knowledge SNARKs, modernizing what had become an outdated infrastructure ^[1].

Additional improvements include updates to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) designed to simplify complex calculations, along with storage and data structure enhancements aimed at optimizing the blockchain's overall performance ^[1][2].

Technical Outlook

Technical indicators showed early signs of bullish momentum as the upgrade approached. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) Histogram turned positive, while the MACD line broke above the MACD Signal line, suggesting growing bullish momentum ^[2]. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) rose to around 47, indicating a near-equilibrium between buyers and sellers ^[2].

Ethereum has been trading in a consolidation channel between $2,722 and $3,099 in recent days ^[2]. Analysts suggest that breaking above the $3,099 resistance level, which aligns with key exponential moving averages, could open the path toward $3,562 in the short term ^[2].

The Fusaka upgrade represents Ethereum's second major network improvement in 2025, reinforcing the blockchain's commitment to addressing scalability challenges while maintaining security and decentralization.