Ethereum Nears Fusaka Upgrade After Smooth Testnet Launch

The update introduces key scalability and efficiency improvements through proposals like PeerDAS (EIP-7594), which streamlines data handling for validators, and prepares the network for future parallel execution and zero-knowledge rollup enhancements. Meanwhile, the Bitcoin community is facing internal conflict after F2Pool co-founder Chun Wang publicly rejected BIP-444 — a proposed temporary soft fork which is meant to limit on-chain data spam — calling it misguided.

Ethereum’s Fusaka Hits Final Testnet Milestone

Ethereum reached another key milestone in its evolution, with its next major upgrade, Fusaka, now live on the blockchain’s final Hoodi testnet. This development paves the way for the upgrade’s mainnet launch, which is scheduled for Dec. 3. 

The upgrade is expected to deliver major scalability and security improvements across the network. Nethermind, one of Ethereum’s most widely used validator clients, confirmed the successful testnet fork in a post on X, and called it “another smooth upgrade” and a major step forward toward Fusaka’s full deployment.

Fusaka introduces several important Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) that are designed to enhance efficiency and prepare the blockchain for future scalability milestones. One of the most notable is EIP-7594, also known as Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS), which will allow validators to read smaller fragments of data from layer 2 networks instead of full data blobs. This innovation will boost node efficiency and reduce computational strain as Ethereum expands its rollup-based scaling strategy. 

Other proposals, including EIP-7825 and EIP-7935, will raise the gas limit and streamline performance in preparation for parallel execution—a feature that will enable multiple smart contracts to be processed simultaneously. Additional EIPs in Fusaka focus on improving support for zero-knowledge rollups, which are an increasingly important component of Ethereum’s scaling ecosystem.

The Fusaka upgrade will roll out in three phases: the initial mainnet launch, followed by the activation of the EIP to increase blob capacity, and then a subsequent hard fork to further expand that capacity. Once Fusaka is complete, the attention of developers will shift to the Glamsterdam upgrade, which will continue Ethereum’s progress through the “Surge” stage of its technical roadmap aimed at enhancing scalability.

This upgrade arrives during a time of leadership changes at the Ethereum Foundation, with several contributors departing and voicing concerns about the project’s current direction. Despite the internal turbulence, ETH still recently reached a yearly all-time high, driven by rising ETF inflows and growing corporate adoption. 

One of Fusaka’s main goals is to strengthen Ethereum’s position in the blockchain landscape by addressing scalability—one of the key challenges in the network’s long-standing “blockchain trilemma” of balancing decentralization, security, and efficiency.

Controversy Builds Over BIP-444

While Ethereum’s Fusaka update is gaining momentum, Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool founder Chun Wang publicly opposed a proposed temporary soft fork designed to curb data spam on the Bitcoin network. 

In a post on X, Wang criticized Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP)-444 by calling it “a bad idea” and stating that neither he nor F2Pool would support or enforce such a fork, whether temporary or not. He is especially disappointed that some Bitcoin developers are “moving further and further in the wrong direction.” It is becoming very clear that there are growing divisions in the community over the protocol’s future direction.

BIP-444 was proposed by pseudonymous developer Dathon Ohm, and its goal is to temporarily restrict the inclusion of arbitrary or non-transaction data on Bitcoin, which some consider unnecessary “spam.” The proposal would cap non-transaction data at 83 bytes and impose limits on data embedding paths, effectively curbing Ordinal-based NFT creation and other non-monetary uses of the blockchain. 

Ohm argued that the measure would reinforce Bitcoin’s core identity as “money, not data storage,” while reducing legal risks for node operators who might otherwise be seen as distributing illicit content stored on-chain. The restrictions would last for about 1.27 years, until block 987,424, giving developers time to devise a more permanent solution.

Bitcoin developer Peter Todd challenged BIP-444’s effectiveness, and demonstrated that he could embed the proposal’s entire text within a transaction that still complied with the proposed restrictions. Others suggested that the soft fork might do little to prevent the kind of activity it seeks to limit. 

Nonetheless, BIP-444’s backers argue that even a temporary restriction would help safeguard Bitcoin’s legal standing and reduce the risk of the blockchain being misused for storing illegal or harmful content.

The controversy shed some light on a long-running ideological divide within Bitcoin’s developer community — between those who see it as purely a financial protocol and those who view it as a flexible, programmable platform.