Vitalik Buterin Advocates for Ethereum Gas Limit Hike

• Ethereum Co-founder Proposes Increment in Network's Gas Limit
• Understanding Gas Fees and Limits
• Buterin's Proposal for Gas Limit Increase
• Implementation of the Proposed Gas Limit Increase
• Reactions to Buterin's Proposal
• Implications of the Proposed Gas Limit Increase

Ethereum Co-founder Proposes Increment in Network's Gas Limit

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum$2,315 -2.42%'s co-founder, has proposed a 33% increase in the network's gas limit. This move is expected to boost the network's transaction capacity potentially leading to a reduction in fees for users. However, it may also increase operational expenses for validators.

Understanding Gas Fees and Limits

Gas$6.78 -2.22% fees are paid by Ethereum blockchain users to ensure their transactions are included in the network. The amount of gas paid is generally proportionate to the computational complexity of the transaction. For instance, a simple token swap would cost less gas than initiating a complex lending position. The gas limit refers to the total amount of gas that can be included in an individual Ethereum block. These blocks are bundles of transactions which are added to the Ethereum network at regular intervals. Therefore, increasing the gas limit would mean an increase in the volume and complexity of transactions that each block can accommodate.

Buterin's Proposal for Gas Limit Increase

Buterin put forward this proposal during a Reddit Ask Me Anything session featuring the Ethereum Foundation Research group. In response to a query about Ethereum's ability to safely increase its gas limit, Buterin suggested an increase to 40 million gas units, a 33% increment from the current 30 million limit. He also pointed out that there has been no increase in the gas limit for almost three years, which is unprecedented in the protocol's history.

Implementation of the Proposed Gas Limit Increase

The proposed increase in Ethereum's gas limit does not necessitate a significant update or hard fork of the network's core code. Validators operating the network should be able to implement the change by adjusting specific parameters in their node software. Calls for an increase in the gas limit began in December when some of Ethereum's layer 2 (L2) networks witnessed record usage. In support of the proposed increase, Martin Köppelmann, Gnosis$194 -2.11% Chain co-founder, suggested that Ethereum needs to raise its block gas limit to serve as a settlement layer for L2s.

Reactions to Buterin's Proposal

Following Buterin's comments on Reddit, a number of users on the platform, formerly known as Twitter, expressed support for the proposed increase. Jesse Pollak, the head of protocols at Coinbase, and creator of the layer-2 blockchain Base, echoed his support for the move and proposed that the gas limit could be increased even more, up to 45 million. On the other hand, certain individuals expressed caution, including Ethereum core developer Dankrad Feist, who suggested targeting calldata and blobs per block in addition to the overall gas limit.

Implications of the Proposed Gas Limit Increase

According to Köppelmann, the limit increase will allow more activity on L1. It could either reduce transaction costs or, more likely, only increase capacity at similar cost leading to more burn.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker