Ethereum's Fusaka Upgrade: Record Wallet Growth Amidst Usage Dip and Reliability Concerns

Ethereum's recent Fusaka upgrade, aimed at boosting transaction throughput and reducing Layer-2 costs, has coincided with a record surge in new wallet creation. However, network usage data reveals a surprising drop in blob utilization, and concerns are emerging about network reliability at higher capacity levels.

Key Takeaways

• Ethereum saw a record 327,000 new daily wallets created post-Fusaka upgrade.

• Despite increased capacity, median blob usage has declined, suggesting current demand doesn't necessitate the expanded throughput.

• Blocks with 16 or more blobs exhibit a significant increase in miss rates, indicating potential reliability issues at peak capacity.

• The Fusaka upgrade successfully implemented Blob Parameter Overrides and a reserve price floor for blobs, stabilizing pricing.

Fusaka Upgrade: Goals and Reality

The Fusaka upgrade, activated in December 2025, introduced Blob Parameter Overrides to incrementally increase Ethereum's data availability capacity. The goal was to lower costs for Layer-2 rollups by allowing them to post more compressed transaction data (blobs) to the mainnet. Initial adjustments raised the target from 6 blobs per block to 10, and then to 14, with a maximum ceiling of 21.

However, analysis three months post-activation shows that the network is not reaching the target of 14 blobs per block. In fact, median blob usage per block actually declined after the first parameter adjustment. This suggests that Layer-2 solutions are not currently constrained by blob availability, potentially optimizing their data compression or experiencing slower growth in transaction volumes.

Network Reliability Under Strain

A critical finding from MigaLabs' analysis is the correlation between higher blob counts and increased network miss rates. While blocks with fewer than 16 blobs maintain a baseline miss rate of around 0.5%, blocks with 16 or more blobs see miss rates climb significantly, reaching up to 1.79% at the maximum capacity of 21 blobs. This degradation in reliability at the higher end of the new capacity suggests that the network's current infrastructure may struggle to consistently handle blocks at peak load, potentially leading to finality delays or reorg risks during periods of high demand.

Wallet Growth Signals Increased Adoption

In contrast to the usage dip, Ethereum has experienced unprecedented growth in new wallet creation. Over the past week, an average of 327,000 new wallets were opened daily, with a peak of nearly 394,000 on a single Sunday. This surge in wallet activity, occurring while ETH prices remained relatively stable, is interpreted by analysts as a sign of genuine network usage rather than pure speculation. Lower transaction fees, partly attributed to the Fusaka upgrade, are making the network more accessible to new users and developers.

Blob Pricing and Future Outlook

The Fusaka upgrade also implemented EIP-7918, introducing a reserve price floor for blobs. This mechanism aims to prevent blob fees from collapsing to near-zero, ensuring that fees remain a meaningful economic signal reflecting the cost of data availability. Early data indicates this has stabilized blob fees. While the upgrade successfully expanded technical capacity and stabilized pricing, the current low utilization and emerging reliability concerns at high blob counts suggest that future capacity increases should be approached cautiously. The focus may need to shift towards ensuring the network's infrastructure can reliably handle the existing headroom before further expansion.

Sources

• Ethereum’s surprising usage drop suggests the network solved the wrong problem with Fusaka upgrade, CryptoSlate.

• Ethereum Wallets Hit Record Growth as Network Use Climbs, 99Bitcoins.

• Ethereum Hits Record 327K Daily New Wallets — A Signal Before Major Rally?, Yellow.com.

• What can investors expect from Ethereum’s latest development?, SIDE-LINE.