Ethereum Nears its Next Major Evolution with Fusaka Hard Fork
Ethereum is moving closer to its next major evolution. On Tuesday, the network’s latest hard fork, Fusaka, went live on the Hoodi testnet, marking the final testing stage before its official mainnet activation later this year.
Hoodi is the third and final testnet for Fusaka, following earlier deployments on Holesky and Sepolia. According to the Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn), the mainnet rollout will occur at least 30 days after Hoodi testing, with December 3 set as the tentative date for the official hard fork.
Fusaka is more than just another upgrade. It represents the next phase of Ethereum’s long-term roadmap, focused on scalability, efficiency, and Layer 2 optimization.
The Road to Fusaka
The Ethereum community has been preparing for this moment for months. Each testnet deployment served as a trial ground for new features and infrastructure refinements.
The first implementation on Holesky tested network synchronization and consensus adjustments. Sepolia followed, validating node performance and gas parameter tuning. Now, with Hoodi live, developers are finalizing tests for rollup scaling and parallel execution—two pillars of the upcoming upgrade.
Fusaka’s mainnet launch on December 3 will be the first step in a three-stage rollout designed to gradually expand Ethereum’s data and transaction capacity.
Rollout Timeline
Ethereum developers have confirmed a structured schedule for Fusaka’s release:
- Dec 3, 2025 → Fusaka mainnet launch
- Dec 17, 2025 → Blob capacity increase
- Jan 7, 2026 → Second blob capacity hard fork
Each stage unlocks new capabilities. The first activation will introduce key Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), while the later forks will scale blob data capacity, a critical factor for rollups and data availability layers (DALs). The client release window opens on November 3, giving operators and validators 30 days to upgrade their nodes before activation.
What Fusaka Brings to Ethereum
At the core of Fusaka are multiple EIPs designed to improve scalability, reduce gas fees, and enhance the experience for both developers and users.
PeerDAS (EIP-7594)
Perhaps the most anticipated, PeerDAS introduces a new data sampling approach that allows Ethereum to support higher Layer 2 throughput while keeping node requirements reasonable. In plain terms: more capacity, less strain.
EIP-7825 & EIP-7935
These proposals fine-tune Ethereum’s gas limits, paving the way for parallel execution—meaning the network can process multiple transaction threads simultaneously, a major step toward faster and more efficient block validation.
EIP-7939 & EIP-7951
The CLZ (EIP-7939) and secp256r1 (EIP-7951) upgrades aim to boost cryptographic performance and zero-knowledge (ZK) proving support, enhancing Ethereum’s zero-knowledge ecosystem.
Together, these upgrades solidify Ethereum’s foundation for the next generation of rollups and decentralized applications.
Laying the Groundwork for “The Surge”
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has long described the network’s roadmap as a series of “eras”: The Merge, The Surge, The Scourge, The Verge, and beyond. Fusaka fits squarely into The Surge, the phase focused on scaling Ethereum to handle tens of thousands of transactions per second.
Once Fusaka is live, developers will begin preparing for Glamsterdam, the next milestone upgrade, which will expand on Fusaka’s groundwork by enabling true parallel processing across the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
Fusaka is, therefore, more than a technical upgrade—it’s a symbol of Ethereum’s long-term vision: decentralization without compromise.
Ethereum’s Institutional Momentum
Outside the development arena, Ethereum is breaking new ground in institutional adoption. According to CryptoRank, Ethereum now leads in digital asset treasury holdings, surpassing Bitcoin for the first time.
Institutional treasuries now hold 4.1% of ETH’s total supply, compared to Bitcoin’s 3.6% and Solana’s 2.7%. The timing isn’t random—this surge followed Donald Trump’s signing of the GENIUS Act, a landmark stablecoin regulation that strengthened the legal framework for on-chain finance in the U.S.
Since the law’s passage, funds and fintech firms have rapidly increased their exposure to ETH. Institutional investors now view Ethereum not merely as a token, but as the core infrastructure of the decentralized finance (DeFi) economy.
ETH on the Charts
Market sentiment has turned bullish as traders position for the December 3 launch. Analysts expect the Fusaka upgrade to drive a renewed Layer 2 growth cycle, with protocols like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base benefiting from increased throughput and reduced data costs.
This growing confidence reflects Ethereum’s ability to evolve without breaking. Each upgrade over the past three years—from The Merge to Dencun—has reinforced its dominance in the Layer 1 space.
What Comes After Fusaka
If Fusaka delivers as expected, the next step will be to expand Ethereum’s data availability and execution parallelism. That’s where Glamsterdam comes in—an upgrade designed to take rollup scalability to its full potential.
In parallel, Ethereum researchers are exploring stateless client architecture, proof aggregation, and cross-chain messaging—all aimed at lowering costs and improving network efficiency.
Ethereum’s roadmap remains clear: scale Layer 2s, reduce complexity, and onboard the next wave of global users.
Conclusion
The Fusaka hard fork isn’t just a technical milestone—it’s a statement of resilience and innovation. From testnets to mainnet, Ethereum continues to evolve at a pace unmatched in blockchain history.
The network’s developers are not just building for the next quarter; they’re building for the next decade. And with institutional money flowing in, new laws favoring on-chain assets, and the strongest developer community in crypto, Ethereum stands ready for its next chapter.
The countdown to December 3 has begun.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.