This is PeerDAS, the Ethereum technology that is changing storage forever.

Ethereum transformed its infrastructure last December with the implementation of PeerDAS in the Fusaka upgrade, allowing for the verification of fragmented data to scale to thousands of transactions per second.

The arrival of PeerDAS solidified one of the most significant advancements in Ethereum's recent history. The Fusaka upgrade, successfully deployed on the 3rd of last month, marked the end of a period of intense experimentation and the beginning of a new operational era for the network. 

Now, the dominant narrative at the beginning of 2026 no longer focuses on promises of future scalability but on the operational management of a network that has radically changed how it processes information. The core of this transformation is precisely technology. PeerDAS o peer data availability sampling, which has gone from being an academic proposal under the nomenclature EIP-7594 to become the operating standard of the world's second largest blockchain.

The integration of this technology stemmed from the urgent need to overcome the physical bandwidth limitations that restricted network growth. Until the end of 2025, each validator node was required to download and store all the information generated in each block to ensure system security. However, this requirement created an unavoidable bottleneck, where increasing capacity meant raising hardware requirements and excluding home operators. The arrival of Fusaka broke this linear dependency between data volume and the individual load on the nodes. The network now operates under a paradigm of division of labour where the responsibility for storage is distributed in a fragmented but mathematically recoverable manner.

PeerDAS and the new data architecture in Ethereum

PeerDAS's internal workings are based on advanced cryptographic principles that allow for the verification of information's existence and integrity without possessing it entirely. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, described this advance as a irreplaceable component for the evolution of the protocol. 

This new system uses a technique known as erasure coding This technology shares conceptual similarities with the technology historically used in DVDs to recover data from scratched surfaces. The information in the blocks is treated as a mathematical polynomial that is extended and has added redundancy. This means that if parts of the data are lost or temporarily unavailable, the network can reconstruct the entire original file as long as a minimal fraction of the extended set is accessible.

The distribution of this data is done through specific subnets in a broadcast protocol known as gossipInstead of transmitting everything to everyone, the system divides the extended information into 128 columns of data. Network nodes randomly subscribe to a limited number of these subnets and hold only the pieces assigned to them. The security of this model relies on statistical probability and the cryptography of KZG commitments, which ensure that the received fragments are authentic. By verifying only a few random data points, a node can be mathematically certain that the entire block is available on the network without ever having downloaded it.

This mechanism also introduces the figure of the supernodes within the validation hierarchy. While standard operators handle manageable fractions of information, there are actors with greater computational capacity and financial backing exceeding 4096 ETH who subscribe to all subnetworks. These participants act as network healers, reconstructing data and redistributing columns to ensure no information gaps exist. This hybrid architecture maintains decentralization by allowing the participation of lightweight nodes while leveraging the power of large validators to guarantee resilience and the perpetual availability of historical data.

Ethereum has entered a new stage of efficiency

The activation of PeerDAS has had an immediate impact on the network's roadmap to reach 12.000 transactions per second during 2026. This massive processing capacity is the foundation upon which the new Web3 banking is being built. 

By freeing validators from the burden of heavy storage, the network's operating costs are drastically reduced, which in turn translates into lower fees for Layer 2 solutions. Decentralized finance protocols and automated exchange platforms benefit from lower latency and responsiveness that is beginning to rival traditional centralized financial systems. In short, the end-user experience on lending and payment platforms has become smoother because the underlying infrastructure is no longer competing for scarce storage resources.

However, the full implementation of this capability did not happen all at once on December 3rd. In fact, to mitigate potential technical risks, the Fusaka upgrade introduced the concept of branching. Blob Parameters Only o BPO according to the specification EIP-7892. In a publication The Ethereum Foundation explains that this strategy allows the network to increase its capacity in a pre-programmed and phased manner without needing to coordinate new software updates with the community. Thus, the number of blobs processed per block remains stable initially and doubles periodically until it reaches a maximum of 48. This prudent approach allows developers to monitor the network's health point by point and ensure that the increased data flow does not destabilize smaller nodes.

The foundation of the new digital economy

The technological landscape that emerges after this update marks the beginning of a key stage towards what is known as FullDAS o Full DankshardingThe current version of the network relies on a one-dimensional encoding system, while the next evolution aims for a two-dimensional array design that promises even greater efficiency. By 2026, Ethereum will reflect a mature environment where the long-standing challenge of data availability has been successfully resolved.

Although competition with monolithic chains like Solana continues, it now takes place in a different arena, dominated by a modular architecture that strengthens cryptographic security and decentralized verification. 

The community of analysts agrees that this new infrastructure offers the necessary robustness to support the expansion of cutting-edge industrial and social applications. In this way, Ethereum consolidates its role as the fundamental layer upon which much of the global digital economy is built.