Ethereum is preparing to deploy its Fusaka upgrade on December 3, introducing a range of infrastructure enhancements focused on rollup scalability, node efficiency, and wallet functionality. Unlike previous updates, this upgrade emphasizes foundational improvements over flashy new features.
### Peer Data Availability Sampling with EIP-7594
At the heart of the upgrade is EIP-7594, which introduces peer data availability sampling. This implementation allows nodes to verify blob data by sampling small pieces from peers instead of downloading entire datasets. By maintaining robust security guarantees while drastically reducing bandwidth requirements, Ethereum can expand blob capacity without forcing validators to rely on datacenter-grade infrastructure.
Lower data costs for layer-2 networks translate directly into cheaper transaction fees for end users—even during periods of high network congestion.
### Blob Capacity Expansion and Block Size Changes
The Fusaka upgrade triggers a series of Blob Parameter Only (BPO) mini-forks scheduled immediately after the mainnet deployment:
– **BPO1 (December 9):** Raises blob targets from 6 to 10 and maximums from 9 to 15.
– **BPO2 (January 7):** Further increases targets to 14 and maximums to 21.
This configuration-only approach allows for rapid capacity scaling without requiring full hard forks, enabling the network to monitor performance and stability as capacity grows incrementally.
Additionally, **EIP-7935** increases the default block gas limit to 60 million, expanding throughput capacity to accommodate legitimate usage. Meanwhile, **EIP-7825** caps individual transaction gas at 16,777,216, preventing single operations from monopolizing entire blocks. These combined measures boost network capacity while mitigating denial-of-service vectors and paving the way for future transaction parallelization.
### Blob Fee Market Stabilization and Network Protocol Cleanup
To address fee market volatility, **EIP-7918** ties blob base fees to execution layer costs. This mechanism prevents extreme price swings—such as fees crashing to zero or spiking independently of Layer 1 network conditions—giving rollup operators a more predictable cost structure and users a more stable fee experience.
Moreover, **EIP-7642** introduces the eth/69 protocol upgrade, which removes proof-of-work era artifacts and receipt blooms from the peer-to-peer gossip protocol. This streamlining reduces bandwidth consumption and simplifies client implementations. Together with PeerDAS, this cleanup lowers resource demands for validators and full node operators, making synchronization less intensive.
### Physical Block Size Limits and Validator Coordination Improvements
**EIP-7934** imposes strict RLP execution block size limits independent of gas constraints. This safeguard prevents blocks from becoming unwieldy in size—even if attackers attempt to exploit calldata to maximize gas usage—protecting the chain’s performance under adversarial conditions.
To enhance proposer predictability, **EIP-7917** standardizes deterministic proposer lookahead, defining how far in advance the network can identify upcoming block proposers. This clarity benefits Layer 2 sequencers, bridge operators, and MEV infrastructure by enabling better preconfirmation coordination and reducing proposer assignment uncertainty.
The upgrade also introduces several developer and user-focused enhancements:
– **EIP-7951:** Adds native support for the secp256r1 elliptic curve, which is used by iPhone and Android secure enclaves as well as WebAuthn keys. This simplifies passkey-style wallet creation and hardware-backed authentication, removing the need for complex workarounds.
– **EIP-7939:** Introduces a “count leading zeros” opcode, offering gas savings for zero-knowledge circuits, compression algorithms, and low-level mathematical operations.
– **EIP-7910:** Enables tooling to query fork and configuration data directly from nodes via `eth_config`, eliminating guesswork around upgrade parameters.
### Cryptographic Operation Repricing and Home Staking Benefits
The upgrade refines cryptographic operation pricing to close attack vectors and better align costs with computational effort. Both **EIP-7883** and **EIP-7823** adjust the ModExp precompile pricing, tightening bounds and increasing costs for large exponentiations. This change helps prevent block processing slowdowns due to underpriced expensive operations.
### Preparing Ethereum for Scalability at Scale
The combined effect of PeerDAS bandwidth reduction, eth/69 protocol cleanup, transaction caps, and block size limits lowers hardware and connectivity requirements for full node and validator operation. Fusaka positions Ethereum to handle significantly higher rollup throughput and Layer 1 transaction volumes.
With expanded blob capacity, refined fee markets, cleaner networking protocols, and improved developer tooling, the Fusaka upgrade represents a critical infrastructure hardening move designed to support Ethereum’s long-term scalability and adoption beyond its current user base.
The scheduled deployment on December 3 marks a significant step forward in Ethereum’s evolution—focused on strengthening the network’s foundation to meet the demands of tomorrow.
https://bitcoinethereumnews.com/ethereum/ethereum-fusaka-upgrade-set-for-december-3-mainnet-launch-what-you-need-to-know/
