Ethereum's Fusaka Upgrade Successfully Tests on Holesky, Paving Way for Mainnet Launch

Ethereum's upcoming Fusaka upgrade has successfully completed a crucial test phase on the Holesky test network. This milestone brings the upgrade, designed to reduce transaction costs for institutions and layer-2 solutions, significantly closer to its mainnet deployment. The successful test on Holesky, despite recent reliability concerns with the testnet itself, marks a vital step forward in Ethereum's ongoing development.

Key Takeaways

• The Fusaka upgrade passed its test on the Holesky network.

• Fusaka aims to reduce costs for institutions and layer-2 networks through features like PeerDAS.

• Holesky is scheduled to shut down two weeks after Fusaka's mainnet launch.

• Further testnet runs are planned before the final mainnet date is set.

Fusaka Upgrade Details

The Fusaka hard fork follows closely on the heels of Ethereum's Pectra upgrade. Its primary objective is to enhance cost-efficiency for institutional users and layer-2 scaling solutions. A key innovation within Fusaka is PeerDAS (presumably a form of Data Availability Sampling), which allows validators to process only partial data "blobs" instead of entire chunks. This selective data verification is expected to significantly lower operational costs for both validators and the networks built on Ethereum.

Holesky Testnet's Role and Future

Test networks like Holesky serve as essential sandboxes for developers to rigorously test new code and features in a safe environment before they are implemented on the live Ethereum blockchain. Holesky, launched in 2023, was particularly valued for its validator configuration, which closely mirrored that of the mainnet, providing a realistic testing ground. However, the network has recently encountered reliability issues. The Fusaka upgrade will be the final major deployment on Holesky before its planned shutdown. This shutdown is slated to occur two weeks after Fusaka officially goes live on the Ethereum mainnet.

Next Steps Towards Mainnet

Following the successful Holesky test, Ethereum developers have scheduled two additional testnet runs for October 14 and October 28. These upcoming tests will provide further opportunities to refine the Fusaka upgrade and ensure its stability. Upon the completion of these final test runs, the Ethereum development team will announce a definitive date for the Fusaka upgrade's mainnet launch. Parithosh Jayanthi, an Ethereum Foundation DevOps engineer, expressed optimism about the test's outcome, stating on X, "Holesky finalized! A great first step towards Fusaka on mainnet and to more blobs on Ethereum."

Sources

• Ethereum’s Fusaka Upgrade Passes Holesky Test, Moves Closer To Mainnet, CoinDesk.