Fusaka boosts Ethereum’s performance

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Ethereum Core developers are tuning the protocol’s execution engine for higher throughput and flexibility ahead of future Fusaka Fork. When all Core Devas called on June 19th, contributors lined up along batches of EIPs for inclusion in devnet-2, increasing the more aggressive performance upgrades of future devnet-3 (confirmed).

The results are strictly scoped but technically meaningful upgrades, with much focus on optimizations rather than new features. When I covered Fusaka in April, it was still a fusion of mushy ideas. An unresolved question regarding interim gas restrictions increases, early discussions regarding revisions to blob fees, and contract size restrictions. Two months later, the fork cured in a clear package.

The developer is currently committed to CLZ’s latest Opcode (EIP-7939) (“Country Reading Zero”) in addition to 45 million gas ceilings, capped blob submissions per transaction, and a streamlined 48 KB contract limit (EIP-7907). Previously controversial parameters like BLOB Rate Floor (EIP-7918) have been resolved and the Devnet-2 was set on Monday.

Let’s start by increasing the gas limit. This is already under test and is not part of Fusaka. This change could, if successful, smash Ethereum’s transaction capacity by 11% or more, but requires careful benchmarking. Developers have flagged the need to maintain block propagation within safe latency as a critical variable to monitor.

“All clients think it’s okay to move forward with 45 million once the release is complete,” EF’s Parithosh Jayanthi (commonly known as “Pari”) said in the call.

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In addition to boosting throughput, developers are improving the way BLOB data introduced in EIP-4844 is processed during Dencun upgrades. 4844 enabled cheaper off-chain data availability, but did not limit the number of blobs contained in a single transaction. EIP-7892 closes that gap and caps per-transaction blob use to prevent one rollup or DAPP from monopolizing the blob space. Meanwhile, the EIP-7918 sets the base rate floor and caps the total number of blobs per block. This is a move that balances scalability and network security.

“Setting a lower bound on the largest size blob means that you can include more blobs. Paradoxically,” Adams said.

Without flooring, Blob-based fees could drop to near zero when demand is low, leading to efficient use of block space.

Another low-level improvement green light for DevNet-2 is the EIP-7939, which introduces the CLZ opcode in the EVM. This may sound vague, but it is the kind of tool that power development reaches when narrowing down performance or doing clever things with randomness and proof. Most modern VMs already have that, and now they also have Ethereum. A niche but convenient benefit for developer ergonomics, with minimal consensus impact.

Also worth noting is the EIP-7951, the long-awaited precompilation of SECP256R1, a type of encryption curve used in Digital Signatures. Its inclusion unlocks native support for keys commonly used on mobile and enterprise platforms, including WebAuthn-based authentication, so Ethereum brings you a step closer to seamless, secure off-chain integration.

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