Momentum is being built among Ethereum validators to increase the network’s gas limits. This is a move that significantly improves Layer 1 (L1) throughput.
According to data from Gaslimits, nearly half of all validators, or more than 49.3% or 500,000 addresses, show support for increasing the block gas limit of 45 million from the current 36 million range.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has confirmed the shift in the July 20 update for social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
This proposed limit is significantly lower than the 60 million previously discussed, but represents a 25% increase from the current level. That bump can significantly increase transaction capacity in the Ethereum base layer.
According to Defi Infrastructure Firm Sumcap, this trend has already been shown on the network. Their analysis confirms that the network’s gas usage is gradually rising, matching Ethereum’s long-term roadmap, covering 150 million gas per block.
This long-term goal can be achieved through Fusaka Hard Fork via Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 9678.
Meanwhile, this development comes as Ethereum experiences one of the strongest gatherings of the year. Indigenous tokens won more than 25% last week, and temporarily touched on six months of over $3,800 over the weekend.
Gas limit
Gas refers to the unit of computational effort required to carry out Ethereum operations, such as execution of contracts and processing transactions. Increasing gas limits means each block can accommodate more activity, reduce transaction fees and improve scalability.
However, the increase in gas restrictions has sparked long-term debate within the Ethereum community. While higher limits offer performance benefits, some developers warn against the risk of network tension from resource-intensive transactions.
To address these risks, Toni Wahrstätter, a researcher at Buterin and Ethereum Foundation, recently proposed a cap on gas usage per transaction.
Their idea of limiting individual transactions to 16.77 million gas units is designed to maintain execution stability while enabling complex debt functions.
According to them, this safeguard balances protecting your network from congestion caused by resource-rich operations and protecting your network.
