Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has spotlighted PeerDAS, a core component of the upcoming Fusaka upgrade, calling it one of Ethereum’s most meaningful advancements in blockchain scalability. According to PANews, Buterin says PeerDAS represents a practical form of sharding that finally delivers on a vision first introduced in 2015 and refined through 2017’s data availability sampling roadmap.

Sharding has been part of Ethereum’s long-term roadmap since 2015, and data availability sampling was identified as a key target in 2017. With PeerDAS, that vision has finally been realized.

PeerDAS allows Ethereum to reach block consensus without requiring every node to process tiny fragments of data. Instead, it uses a client-side probabilistic verification mechanism, which verifies data availability more efficiently and strengthens resistance to 51% attacks—all without relying on validator voting.

This marks a major architectural shift, particularly as Ethereum scales to support the next generation of Layer 2 networks, rollups, and ZK-powered applications.

🔍 Why PeerDAS Matters for Ethereum

Data availability sampling (DAS) has long been considered an essential stepping stone toward full sharding. With PeerDAS now functional, Ethereum is moving closer to achieving a scalable, secure, and decentralized data layer.

Key benefits of PeerDAS:

  • Lighter requirements for node operators

  • Higher data throughput for rollups

  • Stronger attack resistance without centralized assumptions

  • Improved economic security for the entire Ethereum ecosystem

This unlocks a foundation for massive Layer 2 expansion—but full Layer 1 scaling will require additional breakthroughs.

⚠️ Three Critical Challenges Still Block Full Sharding

Despite PeerDAS’ progress, Buterin highlights three areas where Fusaka’s sharding design remains incomplete:

1️⃣ Layer 1 Scaling Still Limited — ZK-EVMs Must Mature

Layer 2 networks can leverage PeerDAS to achieve O(c²) throughput (where c = node computing power).
But Layer 1 cannot yet do this.

To scale Ethereum’s base layer directly, the network needs:

  • High-performance ZK-EVMs

  • Faster proof generation

  • Lower verification overhead

Only once ZK-EVMs mature can PeerDAS be used to reduce Layer 1 gas fees and increase block capacity.

2️⃣ Proposer/Builder Bottleneck

Today, builders must download all available data to construct blocks. This creates:

  • A centralization risk

  • A performance bottleneck

  • Limits to true distributed sharding

Ethereum needs distributed block building, enabling multiple participants to construct parts of the block simultaneously.

3️⃣ No Sharded Mempool — Yet

Ethereum currently operates with a single, global mempool.

A sharded data layer + unsharded mempool creates:

  • Mismatched architecture

  • Inefficiencies for L2s

  • Delays for future scaling stages

A sharded mempool is required to fully realize the Fusaka vision.

🧭 What’s Next: Ethereum’s 2025–2027 Scaling Roadmap

Over the next two years, the Ethereum research team plans to:

✔️ Expand PeerDAS capacity slowly and safely

Ensuring stability and preventing consensus risks.

✔️ Enable aggressive L2 scaling

Rollups will become dramatically cheaper, with higher throughput.

✔️ Once ZK-EVMs mature, unlock full L1 scaling

PeerDAS will help reduce gas fees on Layer 1 and raise block data capacity.

Together, these steps bring Ethereum closer to the long-awaited full sharding era, nearly a decade in the making.

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