Ethereum increased its network gas limit, marking the first adjustment from the transition to a model of evidence of evidence (POS) in 2022.
On February 4, Etherscan, exploring Ethereum blockchain, confirmed that the gas limit had reached a 35.3 million record in the 21771507 block.
This change followed a validator vote, in which around 52% supported the increase, according to Gaslimit.pics.
The adjustment has taken effect automatically without requiring a hard fork. Consequently, the new limit is 32 million gas units, with expectations to extend to 36 million.
The last modification occurred at the end of 2021 when the limit rose from 15 million to 30 million units.
Block Tempo explained that the increase in the gas limit would allow network blocks to accommodate more transactions, facilitate congestion and stabilize transaction costs.
They also noted that the increase improves Ethereum’s ability to manage complex intelligent contracts and decentralized applications with high demand (DAPP). They added that movement further improves transaction speed and efficiency, which makes the network more evolving for DEFI and other innovations based on blockchain.
However, this change also overlooks the network’s nodes more because it increases treatment requirements, which has an impact on decentralization.
Community reactions
The co-founder Ethereum Vitalik Buterin praised the update, noting that the “L1 of the network is on a scale”.
He also discussed the current efforts to balance scalability with decentralization. According to him, there is work in progress on the proposal for an improvement of Ethereum (EIP) 4444 to ensure that the gas limits of layer 1 higher align with the decentralization objectives.
He also commented on the next Pectra update in March, which will increase the number of Blob of Ethereum from three to six.
He said:
“OMI, we should make the Blob target also voted by Staker, so that it can increase in the field of technological improvements without delay hard forks.”
Meanwhile, the expert in the industry Evan Van Ness highlighted the importance of this upgrade, noting that it marks the first increase since Ethereum went to the POS after the merger event in September 2022 .
He stressed that the coordination of the update has taken more time due to the decentralized nature of the POS compared to the proof of work (POW).
In particular, the independent educator of Ethereum, Anthony Sassano, predicted that the main gas limit of Ethereum could reach at least 50 million by the end of the year. This expansion would considerably improve the capacities for evolutionary and processing Ethereum transactions if it was carried out.
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