The Ethereum (ETH) blockchain is poised for one of its most significant upgrades yet, the Fusaka Upgrade, set to take place on December 3. This enhancement aims to tackle one of the network’s most pressing challenges: scalability.
A key feature of the Fusaka Upgrade is its substantial boost to the network’s capacity, raising the block limit from 45 million to 150 million gas. This increase is complemented by the introduction of two systems: PeerDAS and Verkle Trees, which collectively transform data management on the blockchain.
The implications for users are significant. Layer-2 solutions such as Arbitrum (ARB), Coinbase’s Base, and Optimism (OP) rely heavily on Ethereum for transaction settlements. The current protocol necessitates that every Ethereum node downloads extensive data sets to confirm transactions.
However, the Fusaka Upgrade mitigates this issue. With PeerDAS, nodes will only need to verify samples rather than complete data chunks, which could dramatically lower costs and accelerate transaction times.
From an economic perspective, cheaper rollups are expected to stimulate activity across Layer-2 networks, leading to an influx of users and applications. Consequently, this surge could result in increased fees being burned, thereby elevating ETH’s demand.
Fusaka follows a series of important milestones for the Ethereum network that have reshaped its fundamentals. The Merge in 2022 made the network more energy-efficient, while the Shanghai/Shapella update in 2023 introduced the capability for staked ETH withdrawals.
The Dencun upgrade in 2024 incorporated proto-danksharding and blobs, and Pectra, which took place in 2025, brought about validator flexibility and Layer-2 interoperability.
While ETH is trading just above $3,500, a similar response and level of demand to the next upgrade could push ETH to a new high of $5,250. This is supported by analysts’ forecasts of a bullish fourth quarter for the broader digital asset market.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
