Ethereum 2.0 Fusaka Upgrades Near—Will You Buy Before the Next Breakout?

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest blockchain, is preparing for a major software update called the Fusaka hard fork, scheduled between November 5 and 12, 2025. This upgrade is designed to make Ethereum faster, cheaper to use, and more efficient, especially for applications running on Layer 2 networks (like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base).

The excitement is not just about technology. Many investors and analysts believe this update could help Ethereum’s price push beyond its previous all-time high of $4,878, reached in late 2021. As of early September 2025, Ethereum is trading at around $4,423, and speculation is high that the new features may fuel another big rally.

What Is Fusaka?

The Fusaka upgrade is named partly after Osaka, Japan, reflecting Ethereum’s global developer community. Like earlier upgrades, it introduces a set of changes called Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs). These proposals are essentially suggestions by developers that get tested, approved, and added into the main Ethereum blockchain.

Fusaka includes 11 EIPs, but the most important one is PeerDAS.

• PeerDAS is a new system that improves data availability, which is crucial for Layer 2 networks that process transactions off-chain and then post summaries to Ethereum.
• By making it easier and cheaper for rollups to store and access data, PeerDAS reduces transaction costs and increases the number of transactions Ethereum can handle per second.

Ethereum’s current speed is around 142 transactions per second (TPS), but developers believe Fusaka and future upgrades could eventually push this into the hundreds of thousands TPS range, rivaling or surpassing competitors like Solana.

How Is Fusaka Different From Previous Upgrades?

Ethereum has a history of upgrades, most famously the Merge in 2022 (which moved Ethereum from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake), and more recently the Pectra upgrade in May 2025.

• Pectra focused on improving validator efficiency and reducing transaction delays.
• Fusaka, on the other hand, focuses more on scalability and backend stability.

Some of the smaller but important EIPs in Fusaka include:

• EIP-7825: Caps gas usage per transaction, preventing single transactions from clogging the network.
• EIP-7823: Limits certain inputs in cryptographic functions, which strengthens resilience for Ethereum nodes.

Notably, Fusaka does not include the controversial EVM Object Format (EOF), a change to Ethereum’s programming rules. Developers decided to postpone EOF because it was too complex and might have caused delays, similar to what happened with Pectra which was originally planned for 2024 but got pushed to 2025.

The Testing Phase

Ethereum upgrades go through months of testing before they’re added to the live blockchain called “mainnet”. For Fusaka:

• July 2025: Developers launched Devnet-3, a private test environment to experiment with the new EIPs.
• September–October 2025: Public testnets were opened, allowing anyone to try the upgrade and help find bugs.
• November 2025: The upgrade will go live on the Ethereum mainnet, just before the Devconnect conference in Buenos Aires.

After Fusaka, the Holesky testnet a long-running testing chain will be shut down and replaced with a newer, lighter system called Hoodi, which is meant to be easier and more efficient.

Market Impact and Price Speculation

Ethereum’s price often reacts strongly to upgrades because they improve the network’s long-term value.

• As of September 2025, ETH trades at $4,423 with daily trading volume of $17.6 billion.
• Many traders believe the Fusaka upgrade could be the spark that pushes ETH past $5,000 for the first time in history.
• However, risks remain. Some worry that the new upgrade will demand more powerful hardware from validators. If this happens, it could make it harder for smaller participants to stay active, which might hurt Ethereum’s decentralization.

Why Is Fusaka So Important?

Ethereum is currently facing tough competition. Blockchains like Solana, Avalanche, and Sui already offer cheaper and faster transactions, which has pulled some developers away from Ethereum.

Fusaka aims to win back that momentum by:

1. Improving Layer 2 costs – Cheaper rollup fees mean more people can use apps built on Ethereum.
2. Boosting scalability – A higher gas limit and better transaction throughput make Ethereum more efficient.
3. Preparing for the future – Fusaka is one step in Ethereum’s long-term roadmap. The next upgrade, called Glamsterdam, is planned for 2026 and aims to bring six-second block times, making Ethereum even faster.

Final Thoughts

The Fusaka hard fork is more than just another technical update, it is a critical milestone in Ethereum’s long-term plan to stay the leading blockchain for decentralized applications (dApps), finance (DeFi), and digital assets.

If it succeeds, Ethereum could:

• Handle far more transactions per second,
• Lower fees for users,
• And position itself as the most scalable and secure platform for developers.

But challenges remain, especially around decentralization and competition from faster chains.For investors and users, Fusaka represents both an opportunity and a test, can Ethereum keep evolving fast enough to maintain its dominance in the ever-changing crypto space?

In simple words, Fusaka is Ethereum’s big upgrade for 2025 that could make it cheaper, faster, and more powerful. If it delivers, it might push ETH prices higher and keep Ethereum ahead of rivals.