Ethereum Validators Support Gas Limit Increase

According to Cointelegraph, over 50% of Ethereum validators have expressed support for raising the network's gas limit, which determines the maximum amount of gas that can be used for transactions in a single Ethereum block. As of February 4, data from Gaslimit.pics indicates that 52% of validators are in favor of this change, surpassing the necessary threshold of at least half to agree on scaling the layer 1 network. Validators have the ability to adjust their node configurations to signal support for increasing the gas limit, allowing the network to scale without requiring a hard fork. The average gas limit on Ethereum has been approximately 30 million since August 2021, following an increase from 15 million, as reported by Ycharts. Recent data from Blockscout, a multichain block explorer, shows that the gas limit is already on the rise, with a transaction recorded around 3 am UTC displaying a gas limit exceeding 33 million. Crypto commentator Evan Van Ness, formerly of blockchain tech company Consensys, noted in a February 4 post on X that this marks the first increase under proof-of-stake following the Merge upgrade in September 2022. He highlighted that the decentralized nature of PoS compared to PoW contributed to the longer coordination time. Following the successful vote, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called for the Pectra fork, anticipated in March, which aims to increase the blob target from three to six. This fork will also be staker-voted using the same mechanism as the gas limit, according to Buterin, ensuring that the limit can increase in response to technological advancements without waiting for hard forks. The decision to increase the gas limit has sparked debate within the Ethereum community. Proponents argue that raising the limit to 36 million would enhance the L1 network's capacity and stimulate innovation. Ethereum researcher Justin Drake mentioned in a December 9 post on X that he would configure his validator for a 36 million gas limit to facilitate safe network operations. In March, core Ethereum developer Eric Connor and former MakerDAO smart contracts head Mariano Conti launched a website advocating for a gas limit increase to 40 million, suggesting it would lower transaction fees. However, concerns have been raised about potential risks to blockchain stability and security. Toni Wahrstätter from the Ethereum Foundation warned in a December 9 post on the Ethereum Research page that increasing the gas limit to 60 million per block could lead to propagation failures, missed validator slots, and network destabilization. The Pump The Gas site also acknowledged these risks, suggesting that a gradual increase makes sense to avoid making the chain too large for solo node operators to validate and download.