Ethereum Gas Limit Increase: Implications for Network Capacity and Future Growth

Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano announced a significant increase in Ethereum's gas limit to 60 million, up from 45 million, and suggested that this is merely the starting point. He believes the goal is to triple the gas limit to 180 million by next year, emphasizing that this is the minimum target.

During an interview on the Bankless podcast, Sassano stated, 'That's the floor, that's the minimum; I think we can go higher than that.' He noted that some core developers are even discussing a potential fivefold increase in the gas limit within the next year.

A higher gas limit allows Ethereum to process more transactions in each block, including swaps, token transfers, and smart contract calls. Sassano explained that developers could achieve this by rebalancing transaction costs, suggesting a reduction in the cost of basic ETH transfers from 21,000 gas to 6,000 gas, representing a more than 70% reduction.

This would keep the gas limit the same while ultimately supporting higher gas limits through redistributed costs. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin supports the idea of a higher gas limit, advocating for increased costs on operations that are inefficient to process.

Sassano co-authored an Ethereum Improvement Proposal with core developer Ben Adams, aiming to include this in Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade, expected in the first half of 2026. The recent increase to a 60 million gas limit was supported by over 513,000 validators, with Adams noting the rapid acceptance of the gas limit increase, stating, 'The Ethereum gas limit debate went from 'too risky' to 'already live' in under a year.' Developer Toni Wahrstatter highlighted that this twofold increase is just the beginning, coinciding with the upcoming Fusaka upgrade scheduled for December 3rd, which aims to improve Ethereum's scalability.

The Fusaka upgrade is currently in the Hoodi testnet phase, with expectations set for mainnet deployment soon. This development is crucial for maintaining Ethereum's competitive edge as the network faces increasing demand and transaction volume.