tl;dr
Ethereum plans to increase its gas limit by 66% to 60 million units to enhance transaction capacity and network efficiency. This upgrade, confirmed by core developer Parithosh Jayanthi, will be rolled out on the mainnet after successful tests on the Sepolia and Holesky testnets. The gas limit contro...
Ethereum is set to boost its gas limit by 66% to 60 million units, aiming to enhance transaction capacity and network efficiency. This upgrade follows successful testing on the Sepolia and Holesky testnets, as confirmed by core developer Parithosh Jayanthi. The gas limit defines the maximum computational effort a block can handle, including transactions and smart contract executions. Increasing this limit allows Ethereum to process more activity per block, potentially decreasing congestion and transaction fees by 10% to 30%.
This will be the second gas limit increase in 2024, after a rise from 30 million to 36 million units in February—the first adjustment since 2021. The community’s response has been overwhelmingly positive, with nearly 80% of Ethereum validators supporting the new 60 million gas cap. Approximately 10,000 validators have signaled readiness to adopt the change.
Key ecosystem figures like Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake, core developer Eric Conner, co-founder Vitalik Buterin, and researcher Dankrad Feist have all endorsed the upgrade. Drake confirmed his validator is already configured for the higher limit, calling the move safe, especially following improvements from the recent Pectra update. Conner urged validators to adopt the increase for long-term scalability benefits, while Buterin continues to push for expanding Ethereum’s base-layer capacity substantially, even in the era of Layer 2 solutions.
Overall, this strategic gas limit expansion reflects Ethereum’s ongoing commitment to scaling its network efficiently, enhancing user experience by reducing fees and improving transaction throughput.