Ethereum Raises Block Gas Limit To 60m As Network Capacity Climbs...

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said he expects growth to continue next year, but with smarter adjustments that expand capacity without new bottlenecks.

Ethereum crossed a threshold in execution capacity as its mainnet block gas limit reached 60 million, the highest level the network has seen in four years.

Data tracker Gas Limit Pics showed that in November, over 513,000 validators signaled a 60 million gas limit, pushing the Ethereum network over the threshold needed for the protocol to begin moving the gas limit upward.

A higher gas limit allows Ethereum to fit more work into each block, including swaps, token transfers and smart contract calls. In practice, that can ease congestion during busy periods and help the network process more activity at the base layer.

As more than 513,000 validators transitioned from the 45 million ceiling to the higher 60 million configuration, Ethereum’s effective block size began to increase automatically, thereby raising the throughput across the network’s base layer.

In March 2024, Ethereum developers initiated an effort to increase the network’s gas limit, claiming that the change could help scale Ethereum.

Ethereum developers Eric Connor and Mariano Conti created an initiative called Pump The Gas to raise the Ethereum gas limit, which they said would reduce transaction fees on the layer-1 blockchain.

The duo called on solo stakers, client teams, pools and community members to push the agenda.

In December 2024, the movement gained momentum as validators started signaling an increase in gas limits. The community rallied to increase the maximum amount of gas allowed for transactions to be included in a single Ethereum block.

The gas limit increase comes ahead of a forthcoming major network upgrade, called Fusaka, which aims to improve Ethereum’s scalability. On Oct. 29, the upgrade made its way into the Hoodi testnet, the final step before its mainnet debut on Dec. 3.

Source: CoinTelegraph