Ethereum Boosts Gas Limit Beyond 30 Million as Scalability Upgrades Progress

Following major protocol upgrades like the Dencun upgrade and the proto-dank sharding initiative, the gas limit increase is designed to reduce congestion and lower transaction fees, allowing the network to handle more complex operations.

Chimamanda U. Martha By Chimamanda U. Martha Julia Sakovich Edited by Julia Sakovich Updated 3 mins read
Ethereum Boosts Gas Limit Beyond 30 Million as Scalability Upgrades Progress
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Key Notes

  • Ethereum has increased its gas limit above 30 million for the first time under its proof-of-stake system, following a majority validator vote.
  • The increased gas limit aims to lower fees and enable the network to handle more complex and numerous transactions, supporting applications from DeFi to NFTs.
  • The adjustment follows the Dencun upgrade and proto-dank sharding, which have already improved throughput and reduced congestion.
  • Ethereum processes transactions in about 12–13 seconds per block, compared to Solana’s 400–800 milliseconds.

Ethereum ETH $2 688 24h volatility: 1.0% Market cap: $323.99 B Vol. 24h: $24.11 B , the second largest blockchain network, has raised its gas limit above 30 million for the first time under its proof-of-stake (PoS) system. This move underscores the platform’s ongoing efforts to improve scalability and transaction efficiency.

According to data from gaslimit.pics, the average gas limit over the past 24 hours has been around 31.5 million units, and experts now expect the capacity to eventually reach up to 36 million gas units.

Technical Advances and Network Implications

The new adjustment follows major protocol upgrades, including the Dencun upgrade and the ongoing proto-dank sharding initiative, which have already enhanced Ethereum’s throughput and reduced congestion. While these improvements have eased some of the network’s historical scalability issues, increasing the gas limit remains necessary to support more complex transactions and a growing number of decentralized applications.

Before increasing the gas limit, the protocol opened a proposal requesting a vote from the validators. According to The Block report on Tuesday, more than half of the validators endorsed the proposed change, marking the first gas limit increase since the network doubled the capacity in 2021. At the time, Ethereum increased the limit from 15 million to 30 million.

However, by raising the gas limit further, the protocol aims to lower transaction fees and accommodate a higher volume of computational work per block.

Overcoming Scalability Challenges: The Road Ahead

Meanwhile, scalability has long been a central challenge for Ethereum, hindering its ability to meet the demands of a rapidly expanding ecosystem. Upgrades like Dencun and the promise of proto-dank sharding have provided incremental improvements, but they have not fully resolved the network’s congestion issues.

Currently, the network processes transactions with an average block time of about 12 to 13 seconds. This means that, under normal conditions, a transaction is confirmed in that time frame. However, finality – the point when a transaction is considered irreversible – can take longer, especially during periods of high demand when users must pay higher gas fees.

In contrast, blockchains like Solana is engineered for speed. Its unique consensus mechanism allows it to process transactions in roughly 400 to 800 milliseconds – making Solana up to 20 to 30 times faster than Ethereum.

While Ethereum’s design prioritizes security and decentralization, these features also contribute to its slower processing times. The recent gas limit increase is part of Ethereum’s broader strategy to enhance its scalability, ensuring the network can better compete with high-performance blockchains while supporting a diverse range of applications, from decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms to non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces.

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Cryptocurrency News, Ethereum News, News
Chimamanda U. Martha

Chimamanda is a crypto enthusiast and experienced writer focusing on the dynamic world of cryptocurrencies. She joined the industry in 2019 and has since developed an interest in the emerging economy. She combines her passion for blockchain technology with her love for travel and food, bringing a fresh and engaging perspective to her work.

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