Ethereum Struggles With Data-Heavy Blocks After Fusaka Upgrade, Research Finds
Ethereum is displaying indicators of pressure when dealing with data-heavy blocks weeks after its December Fusaka improve, elevating considerations about whether or not the community is able to help increased knowledge throughput from layer 2 blockchains, in response to new research from MigaLabs.
Key Takeaways:
- Ethereum is failing to reliably course of data-heavy blocks regardless of increased blob limits launched by the Fusaka improve.
- Blocks with 16 or extra blobs present sharply increased miss charges in contrast with regular community circumstances.
- If layer 2 demand rises, these elevated miss charges may threaten Ethereum’s community stability.
The Fusaka hard fork was designed to increase Ethereum’s knowledge capability by permitting layer 2 networks to submit extra “blobs,” a type of momentary knowledge used primarily by rollups to submit transaction info to the principle chain.
The change was broadly seen as a step towards cheaper and extra scalable layer 2 exercise.
Ethereum Blocks With Higher Blob Counts Face Higher Miss Rates
However, an empirical evaluation printed by MigaLabs means that blocks carrying increased blob counts are considerably extra prone to be missed by the community.
The analysis attracts on knowledge collected since October 2025 and examines community habits earlier than and after Fusaka, in addition to two subsequent Blob-Parameter-Only (BPO) updates that raised blob limits additional.
MigaLabs, which has beforehand collaborated with Lido DAO and the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, discovered that Ethereum shouldn’t be coming near utilizing the expanded capability.
Despite will increase to the goal blob depend, most lately raised to 14, the median variety of blobs per slot has really fallen because the first BPO replace.
High blob counts of 16 or extra stay uncommon, showing just a few hundred occasions out of greater than 750,000 noticed slots.
More troubling is what occurs when blob counts do spike. The examine exhibits that missed-slot charges rise sharply as soon as blocks comprise 16 or extra blobs.
While the baseline miss charge for slots with as much as 15 blobs hovers round 0.5%, miss charges at increased blob counts vary from 0.77% to as high as 1.79.
At the utmost noticed degree of 21 blobs, the miss charge was greater than 3 times the community common.
These blobs are primarily submitted by massive layer 2 networks comparable to Arbitrum and Base, which depend on Ethereum’s knowledge availability to function securely.
If demand from these networks will increase and high blob counts turn into extra frequent, the elevated miss charges may compound and pose dangers to total community stability.
MigaLabs Urges Pause on Ethereum Blob Increases Amid Rising Miss Rates
MigaLabs cautioned that whereas the pattern dimension for very high blob counts remains to be restricted, the sample is constant throughout all noticed knowledge factors.
In its conclusion, the agency really useful towards any additional will increase to blob capability till miss charges at increased blob ranges return to baseline and actual demand begins to strategy current limits.
As reported, the Ethereum Foundation has elevated post-quantum security to a core strategic focus, forming a devoted Post Quantum crew and committing $2 million to the trouble.
Announced by Ethereum researcher Justin Drake, the initiative shall be led by Thomas Coratger alongside Emile, a contributor to leanVM.
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