Key Points
- Ethereum has increased its gas limit above 30 million for the first time under its proof-of-stake (PoS) system.
- This move is part of Ethereum’s ongoing efforts to enhance scalability and transaction efficiency.
Ethereum, the second largest blockchain network, has taken a significant step towards improving its scalability and transaction efficiency. For the first time under its proof-of-stake (PoS) system, Ethereum has raised its gas limit above 30 million.
Data from gaslimit.pics indicates that the average gas limit over the past 24 hours has been approximately 31.5 million units. Experts anticipate that the capacity could eventually reach up to 36 million gas units.
Technical Improvements and Network Effects
This adjustment comes on the heels of significant protocol upgrades, including the Dencun upgrade and the ongoing proto-dank sharding initiative. These enhancements have increased Ethereum’s throughput and reduced congestion. However, to support more complex transactions and a growing number of decentralized applications, it is still necessary to increase the gas limit.
Before the gas limit was increased, a proposal requesting a vote from the validators was put forth. A report from The Block on Tuesday revealed that more than half of the validators supported the proposed change. This marks the first gas limit increase since the network doubled its capacity in 2021, raising the limit from 15 million to 30 million.
By further raising the gas limit, the protocol aims to decrease transaction fees and accommodate a higher volume of computational work per block.
Addressing Scalability Issues: What’s Next?
Scalability has been a persistent issue for Ethereum, impeding its ability to meet the needs of a rapidly growing ecosystem. Upgrades like Dencun and the prospect of proto-dank sharding have brought incremental improvements, but the network’s congestion problems have not been fully resolved.
Currently, the network processes transactions with an average block time of about 12 to 13 seconds. Under normal conditions, a transaction is confirmed within this time frame. However, finality – the point when a transaction is considered irreversible – can take longer, particularly during periods of high demand when users have to pay higher gas fees.
In contrast, blockchains like Solana are designed for speed. Its unique consensus mechanism enables 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.