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Ethereum finished the final dress rehearsal for its Fusaka upgrade on Tuesday, October 28, with activation on the Hoodi testnet at 18:53 UTC. The milestone follows earlier runs on Holesky (October 1) and Sepolia (October 14), indicating that client teams can now secure the mainnet slot.
The Ethereum Foundation outlined the testnet timetable and noted that “once all three testnets have successfully upgraded, a mainnet activation slot will be chosen.” Hoodi, a new long-lived public testnet that will replace Holešky, now serves as the staging ground for protocol and infrastructure work.
The Fusaka Upgrade centers on EIP-7594, known as PeerDAS, which enables nodes to sample pieces of blob data rather than downloading entire blobs. This data-availability sampling reduces bandwidth needs while enabling higher blob throughput for rollups. Developers expect lower costs and better scalability for layer-2 networks as a result.
Alongside PeerDAS, the upgrade includes execution-layer changes such as a protocol-level transaction gas cap (EIP-7825) and a default L1 gas limit set to 60 million (EIP-7935).
Furthermore, network protocol cleanup (EIP-7642) and updates to crypto precompiles are designed to improve node performance and the overall user experience.
Core contributors discussed December 3, 2025, as the target for mainnet activation during the ACDC call #165, subject to testnet stability and coordination. Some communications also pointed to the earliest feasible window after a 30-day buffer from Hoodi’s fork. Teams will confirm the precise slot once client releases are finalized.
Ahead of the upgrade, the Ethereum Foundation conducted a four-week audit contest on Sherlock from September 15 to October 13, offering up to $2 million in rewards, co-sponsored by Gnosis and Lido. The program aimed to surface vulnerabilities before mainnet and complemented ongoing client testing.
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After Fusaka activates, Ethereum intends to implement "Blob Parameter Only” (BPO) forks. These forks will incrementally raise the per-block blob target and maximum, measured in steps. This method enhances data capacity while avoiding node overload, leveraging the new sampling design.
Furthermore, developers have also started early coordination for the subsequent “Glamsterdam” upgrade. Roadmap items under discussion include enshrined proposer-builder separation (ePBS) and block-level access lists, with a rough 2026 window. Planning continues while teams prioritize a stable rollout of the Fusaka upgrade and Ethereum price increase methods.
“Once all three testnets have successfully upgraded, a mainnet activation slot will be chosen,” the Ethereum Foundation’s protocol coordination team wrote in its testnet announcement.
