Ethereum has successfully completed its final testnet, “Hoodi,” marking the last major milestone before the network’s long-awaited Fusaka upgrade, now tentatively scheduled for mainnet activation on December 3, 2025. The smooth execution on Hoodi, following earlier tests on Holesky and Sepolia, confirms the upgrade’s readiness and brings Ethereum closer to one of its most ambitious technical overhauls in years.
What the Fusaka Upgrade Brings
Part of Ethereum’s “Surge” roadmap, the Fusaka upgrade is designed to dramatically improve the network’s scalability, efficiency, and decentralization, laying the groundwork for mass adoption of on-chain applications and Layer 2 scaling solutions.
Key features include:
- Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS): Allows validators to verify data by sampling smaller chunks instead of downloading full datasets, significantly reducing bandwidth and storage needs while improving decentralization.
- Higher Block Gas Limit: Expands Ethereum’s block capacity to process more transactions and enable more sophisticated smart contract executions per block.
- Expanded Blob Capacity: Boosts the availability of data blobs critical for Layer 2 rollups, cutting transaction costs and increasing throughput.
- Verkle Trees: Introduces an advanced cryptographic structure to compress blockchain data, enabling lighter node operations and reinforcing decentralization.
Why It Matters
The Hoodi testnet’s success effectively clears the final hurdle for Ethereum’s next era of scalability. Once Fusaka goes live, the network will be capable of supporting cheaper, faster transactions and more data-intensive decentralized applications (dApps).
- For Users: Expect lower transaction fees and improved network stability, especially on Layer 2s.
- For Developers: Fusaka unlocks tools to build richer, more complex dApps with enhanced data availability.
- For the Network: The upgrade balances scalability with decentralization — though higher block limits may still test node efficiency.
What’s Next
Following Fusaka, Ethereum’s core developers will turn their attention to the next phase, “Glamsterdam,” a follow-up upgrade aimed at refining scalability and optimizing validator performance.
With Hoodi completed and Fusaka locked in, Ethereum’s evolution toward a truly global, scalable settlement layer is entering its most pivotal stage yet.
