Momentum is building among Ethereum validators to raise the network’s gas limit, a move that would significantly improve the Layer 1 (L1) throughput.
According to data from Gaslimits, nearly half of all validators, about 49.3% or more than 500,000 addresses, have now signaled support for increasing the block gas limit from its current 36 million range to 45 million.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin confirmed the shift in a July 20 update on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), noting that validator sentiment is swinging in favor of the new target.
While this proposed limit is significantly lower than the previously debated 60 million, it still represents a 25% increase from current levels. That bump could significantly boost transaction capacity on Ethereum’s base layer.
According to DeFi infrastructure firm Sumcap, the trend is already visible on the network. Their analysis confirmed that the network’s gas usage is gradually climbing, aligning with Ethereum’s long-term roadmap that targets 150 million gas per block.
This long-term goal could be realized through the Fusaka hard fork via the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 9678.
Meanwhile, this development comes as Ethereum experiences one of its strongest weekly rallies of the year. The native token gained over 25% in the past week, briefly touching a six-month high above $3,800 during the weekend.
Gas limit
Gas refers to the unit of computational effort required to perform operations on Ethereum, such as executing contracts or processing transactions. Raising the gas limit means each block can accommodate more activity, potentially reducing transaction fees and improving scalability.
However, increasing gas limits has long sparked debate within the Ethereum community. While higher limits offer performance benefits, some developers caution against the risk of network strain from resource-intensive transactions.
To address these risks, Buterin and Ethereum Foundation researcher Toni Wahrstätter recently proposed a cap on gas usage per transaction.
Their idea of limiting individual transactions to 16.77 million gas units is designed to preserve execution stability while still enabling complex DeFi functions.
According to them, this safeguard strikes a balance between scaling ambitions and protecting the network from congestion caused by resource-heavy operations.
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