Vitalik Buterin endorses raising Ethereum gas limit by 33% to improve network capacity

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin voiced support for increasing the block gas limit — a move that could enhance the network’s capacity.

In a Reddit ask-me-anything session, when questioned about the safe increment of the gas limit, Buterin recommended a 33.3% increase, proposing to raise the Ethereum block gas limit from its current 30 million to 40 million units of gas.

If implemented, this adjustment would allow more transactions in each Ethereum block and improve capacity. Buterin stressed that the current gas limit, set at 30 million, has remained unchanged for nearly three years.

The gas limit in Ethereum represents the maximum computational effort that can be expended on processing transactions or executing smart contracts in a single block.

Martin Köppelmann, co-founder of Gnosis, observed that increasing the gas limit would also push the operational requirements for nodes — likely necessitating more costs. Nevertheless, Köppelmann believed that the benefits of a higher gas limit, such as improved network efficiency and capacity, outweigh these potential issues.

Jesse Pollak, Coinbase protocols lead, also expressed strong support for the change. He stated, “I’m strongly in support of increasing the Ethereum gas limit to 40-45M — we have the network headroom and it will be beneficial for all parties.”

Unlike several changes to Ethereum that necessitated hard forks, the increase in the Ethereum block gas limit can be achieved through validators adjusting their node configurations.

Since Ethereum’s inception in 2015, the average gas limit was approximately three million. This limit has incrementally risen over time — reflecting the network’s escalating usage and adoption.