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Ethereum after Fusaka: what the latest upgrades and layer 2 networks mean for ETH users

Fusaka expanded data capacity in December 2025, Glamsterdam is in testing with no mainnet date and layer 2 networks secure about 39 billion dollars. Where Ethereum stands on 27 October 2026.

Ether traded at about 2,348 dollars on 27 October 2026, according to CoinGecko, for a market value of about 287 billion dollars and a supply of about 122.2 million ETH. The price was about 21% below its level of about 2,970 dollars on 1 January 2026 and about 53% below its record of 4,946 dollars, set on 24 August 2025. Behind the price, the network has gone through one major upgrade in the past year and is preparing the next.

Fusaka, the last upgrade. Fusaka went live on 3 December 2025 at epoch 411,392, according to the Ethereum Foundation. Its main feature, PeerDAS (EIP-7594), lets nodes check that blob data is available by sampling small pieces of it instead of downloading everything. That allows the network to carry more blobs without a matching increase in bandwidth for each node. Two follow-up changes, called blob parameter only forks, then raised the target and maximum number of blobs per block: from 6 and 9 to 10 and 15 on 9 December 2025, and to 14 and 21 on 7 January 2026.

Fusaka also raised the default gas limit, the amount of computation allowed in each block, to 60 million. It set a cap of 16,777,216 gas per transaction and added support for the secp256r1 signature curve, the one used by the secure chips in many phones, which makes it easier to build wallets that sign with a passkey.

Why blobs matter. Layer 2 networks, or rollups, process transactions away from the main chain and post compressed data back to Ethereum in blobs. More blob space means lower data costs for these networks, and lower costs usually mean cheaper transactions for their users.

Glamsterdam, the next upgrade. Glamsterdam includes enshrined proposer builder separation (ePBS), which changes how blocks are built and proposed, and block level access lists, which help nodes process transactions in parallel. Developers also planned to raise the gas limit to 200 million, according to crypto.news. The upgrade went live on the Sepolia test network on 6 October 2026. On 22 October developers postponed its activation on the Hoodi test network, which had been set for 26 October, after concerns over EIP-8037, a change in how gas is charged for creating new state that could affect some contracts already deployed. Researchers have identified 13 such contracts. Mainnet dates in December 2026 have been discussed, but none has been confirmed.

Layer 2 networks. L2BEAT, which tracks Ethereum scaling projects, put the total value they secure at about 39.1 billion dollars on 27 October 2026. Base led with about 15.2 billion dollars, followed by Arbitrum One with about 9.8 billion and OP Mainnet with about 1.7 billion. All three are rated Stage 1 on L2BEAT's scale from 0 to 2, which measures how far a network relies on working proofs rather than on a small group of operators.

The main chain keeps the largest share of activity. According to DefiLlama, Ethereum had about 46.4 billion dollars locked in decentralised finance applications on 27 October 2026, far more than any other chain: Bitcoin followed with 6.4 billion, Base with 6.1 billion and Solana with 5.7 billion. About 72.1 billion dollars of USDT and 44.0 billion dollars of USDC circulated on Ethereum. US spot ether ETFs held 14.07 billion dollars on 26 October, according to SoSoValue data reported by TokenPost, and 31 entities tracked by BitcoinTreasuries.NET held about 7.92 million ETH, about 6.5% of the supply.

What it means for ETH users. First, upgrades happen at the protocol level: holders do not need to do anything, and any message asking to upgrade or swap tokens because of a fork should be treated as a scam. Second, ETH on a layer 2 is the same asset moved to another network, so transfers must use the right network, and exchanges list which ones they support. Third, more blob space and higher gas limits aim at lower costs, but fees still rise when demand surges.

Unicorn Club, the members-only club of Unicorn Private, accepts ETH, as well as USDT and USDC as ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum main network, and BTC, for its club deals in pre-IPO companies. Our guide on how to invest in pre-IPO companies with crypto, linked among the sources, explains how it works.

This article is general information and not a personal recommendation. Investing involves the risk of losing capital.

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