Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade could be a game changer — unlocking 8x data throughput and giving ETH a shot at reclaiming value from Layer-2s. Based rollups might finally make Ethereum the true value hub again.

Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade is a major protocol update that went live on December 3, 2025 and is designed to dramatically increase data throughput for rollups while tightening how value flows back to Ethereum Layer 1. It introduces Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS) and higher capacity for “blobs” (temporary data used by rollups), setting up a theoretical up to 8x increase in data throughput for rollups and providing the technical basis for “based rollups” that settle and derive security more tightly from Ethereum. Fusaka combines the execution-layer fork “Osaka” with the consensus-layer fork “Fulu,” and is the 17th major Ethereum upgrade, following Pectra. Its main feature, PeerDAS (EIP‑7594), lets validators sample small pieces of blob data from peers instead of downloading full blobs, maintaining security while enabling far more data to be posted by rollups at lower cost. Alongside this, Ethereum formalized Blob‑Parameter‑Only (BPO) forks that allow blob capacity to be raised in phases without full hard forks; two follow‑on BPO upgrades in December 2025 and January 2026 lifted blob targets and maximums in steps, operationalizing that higher capacity. These changes, plus increases to gas limits and per‑transaction caps, are aimed at scaling rollups without overburdening nodes or compromising decentralization, and they lay groundwork for future parallel execution and sharding. For Ethereum’s economic model, Fusaka directly affects how rollups pay for blockspace and how value might re‑accrue to the base layer. The improved blob fee market is designed so Layer‑2s pay more accurate fees for the compute and storage they impose on Ethereum nodes, reinforcing Ethereum’s role as a settlement and data‑availability layer rather than letting L2s capture most value without compensating L1. This is the context for claims that Fusaka could help Ethereum “reclaim value” from Layer‑2s and make it easier for based rollups—rollups whose sequencing and revenue are more tightly coupled to Ethereum validators—to turn Ethereum back into the core value hub of its rollup ecosystem. Whether this materially shifts value capture will depend on actual rollup adoption of the new capacity, fee dynamics, and the competitive behavior of major L2s, but the upgrade clearly moves Ethereum toward higher throughput and stronger pricing power over its own blockspace.

✨ AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

More coverage

• Ethereum Fusaka Upgrade: Everything you need to know - Consensys (consensys.io)
• Fulu-Osaka (Fusaka) | ethereum.org (ethereum.org)
• Ethereum Fusaka Upgrade: All You Need to Know - Binance (binance.com)
• Ethereum Fusaka Upgrade: What You Need to Know - Quicknode Blog (blog.quicknode.com)
• The Fusaka Upgrade: Why Financial Institutions Should Pay Attention (metrika.co)

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