Ethereum has successfully implemented its Fusaka upgrade, marking a significant advancement in network scalability. This upgrade, which is the second major one of the year, has already resulted in a 2% increase in the price of ETH, which is currently trading at US$3.16K (AU$4.78K).
The introduction of PeerDAS is the core innovation of the Fusaka upgrade. This system allows nodes to store only a “slice” of Layer-2 data, known as blobs, instead of the entire dataset. This change is expected to drastically reduce bandwidth and storage requirements while potentially increasing blob throughput by up to eight times.
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, emphasized that this achievement aligns with the long-term vision of sharding, a concept the project has pursued since its inception. With PeerDAS, the network can reach consensus on blocks without necessitating any single node to access a substantial portion of the data, enhancing overall network security and robustness against 51% attacks.
The Fusaka upgrade also introduces mechanisms to adjust blob capacity through “Blob-Parameter-Only” changes, allowing developers to raise blob limits without needing a complete hard fork. Additionally, there are fee adjustments aimed at stabilizing blob fees during periods of elevated gas prices, which will help maintain a more predictable rollup data space.
Activated at block 18,200,000, the Fusaka upgrade has seen a notable uptick in trading activity, with volumes rising from approximately US$28.2 billion (AU$43.15 billion) to US$32 billion (AU$48.96 billion) within about six hours post-activation. Analytics firm Santiment reported substantial buying activity from “shark” wallets, which hold between 1,000 and 10,000 ETH.
Market analysts suggest that ETH remains undervalued, with some valuation models indicating that its ideal price should exceed US$9K (AU$13.6K). Such insights underline the potential for further growth following the successful rollout of the Fusaka upgrade.
Fusaka is deemed Ethereum”s second-largest upgrade this year, following the earlier Pectra update, which introduced eleven new Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) and enhanced features such as account abstraction and staking functionalities.
As the Ethereum community embraces this upgrade, the future looks promising for improved scalability and usability on the platform, positioning Ethereum as a resilient player in the ever-evolving cryptocurrency landscape.
