Ethereum News Today: Ethereum's Scalability Strategy: Tripled Throughput, No Decentralization Trade-Off

Ethereum's Fusaka upgrade, set for mainnet activation in late 2025, marks a pivotal step in the blockchain's scalability journey, with a tripling of the block gas limit from 45 million to 150 million units [1]. This enhancement, driven by Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 7935, aims to significantly boost transaction throughput, addressing persistent congestion and high fees during peak network activity [3]. The upgrade also introduces innovative data management techniques, including Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS) and Verkle Trees, to optimize node operations while preserving decentralization and security [2].

The gas limit increase is expected to enable Ethereum to process up to 50–60 transactions per second (TPS), a threefold improvement over current levels [5]. This expansion is critical as the network's user base grows, with decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and Layer 2 (L2) solutions demanding higher capacity. PeerDAS reduces the computational burden on nodes by allowing them to verify data availability through sampling rather than full data downloads, while Verkle Trees compress state proofs, lowering storage and bandwidth requirements [1]. These advancements ensure that the network can scale without compromising the accessibility of node operation [2].

The upgrade follows a phased rollout strategy, with testnet activations scheduled for October 2025. Holesky, Sepolia, and Hoodi testnets will undergo rigorous testing to validate performance and stability before the mainnet launch [1]. A four-week bug bounty program, offering up to $2 million in rewards, will precede the mainnet activation to identify and resolve critical vulnerabilities [1]. The mainnet is targeted for December 3, 2025, though the exact date remains contingent on testnet results [1].

For users, the upgrade promises faster transaction confirmations and more predictable gas fees, particularly during high-demand periods [5]. Developers stand to benefit from improved L2 efficiency, as larger blob capacities and streamlined data sampling enhance rollup performance [2]. Validators and node operators will need to update their infrastructure to handle increased data loads, though PeerDAS and Verkle Trees are designed to mitigate these challenges [3].

Security remains a priority, with EIP-7825 capping individual transaction gas usage at 16.77 million units to prevent denial-of-service (DoS) attacks [7]. Additionally, the gas limit increase is paired with safeguards like EIP-7983, which adjusts gas pricing for resource-intensive operations like modular exponentiation (MODEXP) to ensure fair competition for block space [7]. These measures aim to maintain network resilience while enabling scalability.

The Fusaka upgrade is part of Ethereum's broader roadmap to transition from iterative, ad-hoc adjustments to a structured scaling strategy. Future proposals, such as EIP-9698, envision a 100-fold gas limit increase over four years, automating growth to align with hardware advancements [6]. For now, Fusaka lays the groundwork for Ethereum to compete with high-throughput blockchains while retaining its decentralized ethos [4].