Ethereum's Fusaka Upgrade Clears Final Hoodi Test, Mainnet Launch Set for December 3
Ethereum’s Fusaka Upgrade Passes Final Hoodi Testnet, December 3 Mainnet Activation Targeted
Introduction: A Milestone Reached for Ethereum Scalability
The final dress rehearsal for Ethereum’s upcoming Fusaka upgrade concluded successfully on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, marking a critical milestone as the blockchain prepares for its next major hard-fork activation. The test, which went live around 18:53 UTC on the Hoodi testnet, involved passing a series of code changes designed to make the Ethereum network more scalable and cost-efficient. With all three planned tests now complete, developers are finalizing the mainnet launch date, with a tentative target of December 3, 2025. This upgrade, arriving roughly six months after the Pectra upgrade, represents a continued effort to refine Ethereum’s core infrastructure for developers, users, and institutions.
The Hoodi Testnet: The Final Dress Rehearsal
The Hoodi testnet served as the last of three simulated environments where the Fusaka upgrade was rigorously tested before its intended deployment on the main Ethereum network. Testnets like Hoodi are essential replicas of a blockchain’s main network, providing developers with a safe and controlled sandbox to identify and fix potential issues, bugs, or vulnerabilities. The successful activation on Hoodi signifies that the core code changes have passed their ultimate pre-launch validation.
This event follows two other successful test upgrades on the Holesky and Sepolia networks. The sequential testing across multiple testnets is a standard Ethereum practice to ensure broad compatibility and stability. The success on Hoodi provides the final green light for developers to proceed with scheduling the mainnet hard fork.
Understanding the Fusaka Upgrade’s Core Components
The Fusaka upgrade is not a single feature but a bundle of Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) focused primarily on enhancing the network's efficiency. Its development trajectory continues the momentum set by previous upgrades, with Fusaka arriving approximately six months after Pectra.
The centerpiece of Fusaka is an enhancement known as PeerDAS (Peer Data Availability Sampling). This innovation is a significant step forward for Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap. Prior to PeerDAS, validators were required to check entire "blobs" of data. This process was bandwidth-intensive and costly. PeerDAS revolutionizes this by allowing validators to sample and verify only small segments of data. This drastically reduces the computational and bandwidth burden on validators, which in turn lowers operational costs. These savings are expected to trickle down to Layer-2 networks and their users, making transactions cheaper across the ecosystem.
The Path to Mainnet: From Testnets to Live Deployment
With all three tests—on Sepolia, Holesky, and finally Hoodi—now complete, the Ethereum development community has shifted its focus to finalizing the mainnet launch date. According to the Ethereum Foundation's stated policy, a mainnet hard fork must be scheduled at least 30 days after a final testnet deployment.
Given that the Hoodi test occurred on October 28, the earliest possible date for the mainnet activation would have been November 28. However, core developers, during a bi-weekly call last week, discussed potentially targeting December 3 for the mainnet launch. This date provides a slight buffer beyond the minimum window, allowing for final client preparations and ecosystem-wide coordination. The December 3 date remains tentative but is the current working target for the community.
Ethereum’ Continuous Evolution: From Pectra to Fusaka and Beyond
Ethereum’s development is characterized by a continuous cycle of research, testing, and deployment. The Fusaka upgrade follows the Pectra upgrade by roughly six months, demonstrating a consistent cadence of incremental improvements. Where Pectra introduced its own set of optimizations, Fusaka builds upon that foundation with a sharp focus on data availability and cost reduction through PeerDAS.
Even as Fusaka nears completion, the Ethereum developer community is already looking ahead. Development efforts are moving "full steam ahead" on the subsequent hard fork, currently known as Glamsterdam. While specific details are not yet finalized, developers plan to include proposals related to proposer-builder separation (PBS), a concept aimed at further decentralizing and securing the block production process. This forward-looking approach ensures that Ethereum’s evolution remains an ongoing process.
Broader Ecosystem Developments in Context
While Ethereum prepares for its core protocol upgrade, other projects in the crypto space are advancing their own infrastructures, highlighting different facets of blockchain utility.
- OwlTing and Stablecoin Infrastructure: On October 16, 2025, OwlTing highlighted the growing stablecoin payment market, which has reached $19.4 billion in volume year-to-date. OwlTing's focus is on developing payment infrastructure that processes these transactions rapidly and cheaply. This underscores a major use case for efficient blockchains: serving as settlement layers for high-volume payment systems.
- BOB’s Bitcoin Vault Liquidation Engine: Separately, BOB ("Build on Bitcoin") recently unveiled a Bitcoin Vault Liquidation Engine. This system enables Bitcoin holders to use their native BTC as collateral to borrow stablecoins, with liquidation times reduced from days to under an hour. This development addresses a key obstacle in Bitcoin DeFi by allowing BTC to be used natively without wrapping it into representations on other chains like wBTC.
When compared, these projects operate in different domains: Ethereum’s Fusaka is a foundational layer-1 protocol upgrade aimed at benefiting the entire ecosystem, including Layer-2s and dApps. In contrast, OwlTing is building application-specific payment rails, and BOB is creating a specialized financial primitive for Bitcoin. Each plays a distinct role in scaling different aspects of the broader cryptocurrency landscape.
Conclusion: Setting the Stage for a More Efficient Future
The successful conclusion of the Hoodi testnet is a definitive signal that the Ethereum Fusaka upgrade is on track for its anticipated December 3 mainnet launch. By focusing on critical improvements like PeerDAS to reduce bandwidth demands and lower costs for validators and Layer-2 networks, Fusaka represents another pragmatic step in Ethereum's long-term scaling strategy.
For readers and participants in the Ethereum ecosystem, the key takeaways are clear: monitor official channels like the Ethereum Foundation Blog for confirmation of the December 3 date as it becomes final. Following the activation, attention should turn to observing metrics such as Layer-2 transaction fees and validator operational costs to gauge the real-world impact of PeerDAS. Furthermore, with development already advancing on the subsequent Glamsterdam upgrade, it is evident that Ethereum’s protocol evolution remains a dynamic and relentless process focused on strengthening its foundation for future growth.