Ethereum’s core developers have targeted early December for the tentative launch of the network’s next major hard fork, known as Fusaka. This upgrade aims to enhance the network’s scalability and efficiency.
The Fusaka upgrade is set to go live on Dec. 3, with an increase in blob capacity occurring two weeks later, around Dec. 17, followed by an additional blob capacity hard fork on Jan. 7, 2026.
Both upcoming blob capacity hard forks are expected to more than double the current blob capacity, as noted by Ethereum researcher Christine D. Kim.
Prior to the upgrade’s implementation on the Ethereum mainnet, three public testnets will be held from early October to mid-November.
“The preliminary conclusion is that we can proceed with a Max blob count of 15 for BPO1 [Blob Parameter Only] and a Max blob count of 21 for BPO2. There are a total of 5 BPOs planned for Fusaka, ensuring that the mainnet scales significantly – safely,” Ethereum developer community ethPandaOps stated in a post on X on Thursday.
BPO (Blob-Parameter only) forks solely modify the parameters related to blob targets and limits, requiring no updates from the client side.
Blobs are utilized to store large datasets offchain, thereby enhancing layer-2 network efficiency while lowering transaction costs.
Blob usage has been gradually increasing since the Dencun upgrade was implemented. The current average blob count per block is 5.1, significantly higher than the 0.9 reported in March 2023, according to data from a Dune dashboard.
This Monday, the Ethereum Foundation announced a four-week code audit initiative, offering $2 million to developers who identify and report vulnerabilities in the Fusaka codebase.
The launch of Fusaka follows the Pectra upgrade on May 7, which increased the validator staking limit, introduced account abstraction, and improved the efficiency of layer-2 networks.
Ethereum’s exit queue reaches an all-time high
The volume of ETH unstaked by Ethereum’s validators has also achieved a record high, with 2.6 million ETH, valued at $12 billion, entering the exit queue last week.
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Simultaneously, the queue for entry into the staking pool has reached a four-week low, fueled by concerns over potential selling pressure from the unstaked ETH.
Currently, the estimated wait time for the exit queue is approximately 43 days, as per the Ethereum Validator Queue.
On Thursday, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin emphasized that the protocol’s lengthy exit queue serves a purpose and lowering the limit would diminish the chain’s “trustworthiness.”
Buterin’s remarks responded to Galaxy Digital’s head of DeFi, Michael Marcantonio, who referred to the exit queue length as “troubling.”
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