Ethereum’s transaction processing capacity has undergone significant improvement. While many still perceive ETH’s TPS (transactions per second) as hovering around 15, recent optimizations have pushed peak performance to approximately 60 TPS—a fourfold increase.
Much of this progress stems from ongoing protocol enhancements. However, the most direct factor behind this leap was the straightforward yet effective increase of the Gas Limit from 15 million to 36 million.
Now, the Ethereum community is proposing another upgrade: raising the Gas Limit to 60 million.
What Is the Gas Limit?
Every interaction on the Ethereum network requires gas—a unit that measures the computational effort needed to execute operations. The Gas Limit defines the maximum amount of gas allowable per block. A higher limit means more transactions can be included in each block, which directly improves network throughput.
Among various scaling strategies, raising the Gas Limit offers one of the most immediate and impactful gains.
Crucially, this adjustment doesn’t require a hard fork. The Gas Limit is a dynamic parameter within Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol, allowing node operators to fine-tune it under existing consensus rules.
This stands in contrast to Bitcoin’s fixed 1MB block size. In Ethereum, each new block producer can adjust the Gas Limit within ±1/1024 of the previous block’s value—a feature baked directly into the consensus mechanism.
How Is the Gas Limit Increased?
Since no systemic upgrade or code modification is needed, the change is driven by signaling. PoS validators—of which there are over one million—can indicate support for a higher Gas Limit.
When a sufficient proportion of validators signal approval, the network gradually adopts the new limit, maintaining compatibility across all nodes.
As of now, around 15% of validators have expressed support for the 60 million Gas Limit. Ebunker, a non-custodial staking provider, is among them, emphasizing the need to balance scalability with decentralization.
It’s worth noting that this is a voluntary process. Many nodes still operate with older configurations, such as a 30 million Gas Limit.
Economic Incentives for Validators
Raising the Gas Limit doesn’t necessarily mean higher earnings for validators—in fact, the opposite is often true.
Since the implementation of EIP-1559, the base fee for transactions is burned. Validators only earn priority fees (tips) added by users to incentivize faster inclusion.
With a higher Gas Limit, block space becomes more abundant. Reduced congestion leads to lower competition among users, which drives down tip amounts. So, while the network can process more transactions, validators may see declining revenue per block. At the same time, ETH burn increases due to higher base fee destruction.
In this context, validators supporting the 60 million Gas Limit are acting largely in the interest of the ecosystem—even at potential personal cost.
EIP-9698: A Controversial Proposal
A more radical proposal has also emerged: EIP-9698. It suggests increasing the Gas Limit from 36 million to 3.6 billion over four years, targeting a TPS of around 2,000—putting Ethereum in direct competition with high-performance chains like Solana.
While theoretically feasible with sufficiently powerful hardware, this vision remains impractical in the short term.
Ethereum’s validator set is highly decentralized, with over a million participants. Other high-throughput networks often operate with only hundreds of validators—a difference in scale of several orders of magnitude.
Even the current proposal to raise the limit to 60 million is only feasible thanks to execution-layer optimizations introduced in the Pectra upgrade.
Network Performance and Limitations
According to research from ethpandaops, with a Gas Limit of 60 million, about 90% of blocks are initially propagated within 1016 milliseconds. While latency increases slightly, it remains within acceptable bounds.
However, for a block to be considered valid, 66% of nodes must receive the full block—including blob data—within 4 seconds. Based on this constraint, testnet simulations suggest a theoretical maximum Gas Limit of around 150 million under current conditions.
This makes EIP-9698’s goal unachievable without architectural changes.
Future upgrades could introduce a tiered node system. For example, nodes staking 2048 ETH might process larger blocks, while those with 32 ETH handle smaller ones. This could pave the way for further scalability without compromising decentralization.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Gas Limit in Ethereum?
The Gas Limit is the maximum amount of gas allowed in a single block. It directly impacts how many transactions the network can process per second.
How does raising the Gas Limit improve Ethereum?
A higher Gas Limit allows more transactions per block, increasing throughput and reducing congestion. This can lead to lower fees and better user experience.
Will validators earn more after the Gas Limit increase?
Not necessarily. With more space available, competition among users decreases, which can reduce priority fees. Additionally, base fees are burned, not paid to validators.
What is EIP-9698?
It is a proposal to dramatically increase the Gas Limit over several years, aiming for a TPS of around 2000. It is considered highly ambitious and not yet feasible.
Is a hard fork required to change the Gas Limit?
No. The Gas Limit is adjustable through validator signaling without a hard fork.
How can I participate in supporting Gas Limit changes?
If you operate a validator, you can configure your node to signal support. For everyday users, staying informed and participating in governance discussions is key. 👉 Explore staking and governance opportunities
Conclusion
Ethereum’ scaling journey is advancing through pragmatic, step-by-step improvements. The proposed Gas Limit increase to 60 million is a testament to the community’s commitment to efficiency and accessibility.
While “Ethereum is expensive” remains a popular meme, the reality is that the network is becoming faster, more efficient, and increasingly user-friendly—proof that sustained optimization is paying off.