Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has expressed his support for an increase in the block gas limit, a move that could potentially boost the network’s capacity.
Buterin Proposes 33.3% Increase in Gas Limit.
During a Reddit ask-me-anything session, Buterin suggested a 33.3% increase in the gas limit when asked about a safe increment. He proposed raising the Ethereum block gas limit from its current 30 million to 40 million units of gas. This change, if implemented, would allow for more transactions in each Ethereum block, thereby enhancing capacity. Buterin emphasized that the current gas limit, set at 30 million, has been static for nearly three years.
The gas limit in Ethereum signifies the maximum computational effort that can be expended on processing transactions or executing smart contracts in a single block. Martin Köppelmann, co-founder of Gnosis, noted that increasing the gas limit would also increase the operational requirements for nodes, likely leading to higher costs. However, Köppelmann argued that the benefits of a higher gas limit, such as improved network efficiency and capacity, outweigh these potential drawbacks.
Jesse Pollak, Coinbase protocols lead, also strongly supported the change. He stated, “I’m strongly in support of increasing the Ethereum gas limit to 40-45M — we have the network headroom, and it will be beneficial for all parties.”
Unlike several changes to Ethereum that required hard forks, the Ethereum block gas limit can be increased through validators adjusting their node configurations. Since Ethereum’s inception in 2015, the average gas limit was approximately three million. This limit has incrementally increased over time, reflecting the network’s growing usage and adoption.
