Ethereum's Fusaka hard fork activates on final testnet ahead of mainnet launch

Ethereum’s next hardfork, dubbed Fusaka, went live on the Hoodi testnet on Tuesday in its final step towards mainnet activation expected before the end of the year. 

Hoodi represents the third and final testnet deployment, following successive activations on Holesky and Sepolia earlier this month. The Ethereum Foundation previously said Fusaka’s mainnet launch will come at least 30 days after the Hoodi testing, with core developers tentatively slating the hard fork for Dec. 3. 

Fusaka looks to implement backend improvements to enhance scalability, efficiency, and security of the largest smart contract blockchain, including pushing up the block gas limit, expanding “blob” capacity, and introducing new node security features. 

In total, the upgrade comprises at least a dozen Ethereum Improvement Proposals, most notably including EIP-7594 that introduces Peer Data Availability Sampling, or “PeerDAS,” a way for validators to survey segments of data rather than full “blobs,” thereby improving data availability for Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem. 

Last month, the non-profit Ethereum Foundation launched a four-week audit contest for Fusaka, offering up to $2 million in rewards for security researchers who uncover bugs before the hard fork reaches mainnet.

The Fusaka hard fork comes approximately six months after Ethereum’s last major upgrade, Pectra. In bi-weekly core dev calls, Ethereum researchers have already begun discussing the roadmap for the next major protocol upgrade, Glamsterdam, targeting faster block times and scalability enhancements like the full EVM Object Format.