Post Pectra, Ethereum now targets efficiency with 60 million gas limit expansion

Ethereum is eyeing an increase in its gas limit by 66% to 60 million units to improve transaction capacity and network efficiency.

On May 7, Ethereum core developer Parithosh Jayanthi confirmed that the 60 million gas limit would be rolled out on the blockchain’s mainnet network after successfully testing on the Sepolia and Holesky testnets.

He stated:

“We start shipping 60M on sepolia tomorrow, hoodi/holesky shortly after. If its deemed safe and we patch all found bugs, we ship on mainnet.”

The gas limit determines the maximum computational effort a block can carry, which includes basic transactions, smart contract executions, and interactions with decentralized applications.

By increasing this limit, Ethereum can process more activity per block, potentially reducing congestion and enabling faster execution.

According to community resource PumpTheGas, the upgrade could lower the network’s Layer 1 transaction fees by 10% to 30%, depending on network activity.

Meanwhile, this would mark the second gas limit increase for this year when completed.

In February, a similar move saw the limit rise from 30 million to 36 million. Notably, this was the first gas limit adjustment since 2021.

Ethereum validators rally behind upgrade

The proposed increase has received significant support from Ethereum validators and leading voices in the ecosystem.

Available data shows that nearly 80% of Ethereum validators support increasing the current gas limit from 36 million. Around 10,000 have signaled readiness to implement the higher limit of 60 million.

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake confirmed his validator is already configured for the change. He described the move as safe, especially after recent improvements introduced by the Pectra update.

Ethereum core developer Eric Conner also urged others to follow suit, emphasizing the long-term benefits of a higher gas ceiling.

Meanwhile, this widespread support is consistent with previous calls from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and researcher Dankrad Feist, who have advocated for expanding the base-layer capacity.

Buterin has repeatedly emphasized the need to scale Ethereum’s base layer, suggesting a tenfold increase in gas limits to support growing demand despite the growth of Layer 2 solutions.

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