Ethereum Breaks Scalability-Decentralization Tradeoff with PeerDAS

Ethereum’s upcoming Fusaka upgrade, set for December 3, 2025, introduces PeerDAS (Peer Data Availability Sampling), a transformative mechanism aimed at addressing the network’s data availability bottlenecks and enabling unprecedented scalability. Co-founder Vitalik Buterin emphasized that PeerDAS represents a “pretty unprecedented” approach, allowing nodes to probabilistically verify data availability without downloading the entire blockchain datasettitle1^[1]. This innovation marks a critical step in Ethereum’s roadmap to enhance Layer 2 (L2) throughput and reduce transaction costs while preserving decentralization and securitytitle2^[2].

PeerDAS operates by distributing data verification across nodes, where each node requests only a subset of data chunks. If over 50% of chunks are available, nodes can use erasure coding to reconstruct the full datasettitle1^[1]. This method reduces the storage and bandwidth requirements for individual nodes, enabling Ethereum to scale blob throughput from 6 to 48 blobs per block—up to an 8x increasetitle2^[2]. The upgrade also introduces Blob Parameter Only (BPO) forks, which will incrementally raise blob capacity through automated adjustments, ensuring a cautious and tested rollouttitle6^[6].

The Ethereum Foundation outlined a phased approach to scaling, with PeerDAS forming the core of the Fusaka upgrade. The initial implementation will double blob capacity to nine per block, with subsequent BPO forks targeting 15 and 21 blobs by January 2026title6^[6]. These incremental increases aim to balance scalability with network stability, addressing concerns about validator storage demands and potential centralization riskstitle4^[4]. The Ethereum team has also prioritized bandwidth optimizations, such as cell-level messaging, to further enhance efficiencytitle6^[6].

PeerDAS’s impact extends beyond technical metrics. By reducing the data burden on nodes, the upgrade is expected to lower transaction costs for L2 rollups, which rely on Ethereum’s base layer for data availability. Analysts project that this could enable Ethereum to process over 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) in the long term, positioning it as a dominant settlement layer for decentralized finance (DeFi), AI applications, and real-time paymentstitle12^[12]. Additionally, the integration of blob fee market adjustments ensures that data costs remain aligned with execution gas prices, preventing underpricing and network congestiontitle11^[11].

Despite its promise, PeerDAS introduces complexities. Developers have highlighted challenges in block proposer workloads, as proposers must now handle erasure coding and proof generation within tight deadlines. Early testnet trials have also revealed risks such as network fragmentation and data unavailability during adversarial conditionstitle4^[4]. To mitigate these, the Ethereum community is exploring incentive mechanisms to reward nodes for data sharing and penalize non-compliance, though these remain in the proposal phasetitle4^[4].

The Fusaka upgrade is part of Ethereum’s broader strategy to transition toward a rollup-centric model, where L2 solutions handle the bulk of transactions while the base layer ensures security and finality. With PeerDAS, Ethereum aims to solidify its role as the backbone of the decentralized ecosystem, enabling scalable, low-cost applications without compromising its core principlestitle12^[12]. As the December 2025 activation date approaches, the network’s performance will be closely monitored, with further optimizations planned under the Glamsterdam upgrade in mid-2026title6^[6].