Ethereum Raises Gas Limit to Over 30 Million Amid Scalability Improvements
Ethereum has increased its gas limit above 30 million for the first time under its proof-of-stake system. This adjustment aims to enhance scalability and transaction efficiency.
- The average gas limit in the past 24 hours was around 31.5 million units.
- Experts project the capacity could reach up to 36 million gas units.
- This change follows protocol upgrades like the Dencun upgrade and proto-dank sharding, which improved throughput and reduced congestion.
- A proposal for the gas limit increase received support from over half of the validators, marking the first increase since 2021.
- The aim is to lower transaction fees and handle a higher computational workload per block.
Despite improvements, Ethereum continues to face scalability challenges. The network currently processes transactions with an average block time of 12 to 13 seconds, but finality can be delayed during high demand. In comparison, blockchains like Solana can process transactions in 400 to 800 milliseconds.
The gas limit increase is part of Ethereum's strategy to better compete with faster blockchains while supporting various applications, including DeFi platforms and NFT marketplaces.