Vitalik Buterin Proposes Gas Futures on Ethereum to Manage Fees

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed an on-chain futures market for gas fees to provide users with certainty over transaction costs. In a post on X, Buterin stated that a trustless gas futures market could help address the uncertainty surrounding gas fees as Ethereum's adoption grows.

This proposed market would allow users to lock in gas prices for future transactions, similar to traditional futures markets where assets are bought or sold at predetermined prices. Such a system would enable users, particularly those with high transaction volumes like traders and institutions, to hedge against potential future spikes in gas fees.

Current data shows Ethereum's average gas fees for basic transactions are around 0.474 gwei, or approximately one cent. More complex transactions, such as token swaps and NFT sales, incur average costs of around 0.16, 0.27, and 0.05 dollars respectively.

Although average fees have decreased throughout 2025, they still experience volatility, with fees starting at one dollar at the beginning of the year, dropping to 0.30, and fluctuating between highs of 2.60 and lows of 0.18 dollars.

Buterin's proposal aims to enhance the user experience and transaction efficiency on the Ethereum network, especially as gas fee fluctuations continue to impact users.