Ethereum Transaction Throughput Set to Increase with 33% Gas Limit Boost

Ethereum's gas limit is set to be boosted again next month, with developers aiming to increase it from 60 million to 80 million in January. This move is expected to directly increase the number of transactions and smart contract operations that can fit in each Ethereum block, boosting overall throughput while potentially lowering fees.

Ethereum's Aggressive 2025 Scaling Timeline

The Ethereum network has seen three gas limit increases this year alone, each expanding the network's ability to process transactions and smart contract operations. The limit rose from 30 million to 35 million in February, jumped to 45 million in July, and reached 60 million in November. This aggressive scaling timeline reflects a coordinated push among developers and researchers to reach 180 million gas by the end of 2026.

According to Christine Kim, vice president of research at Galaxy Digital, Nethermind representatives indicated at Monday's All Core Developers meeting that developers should be ready to proceed after the next BPO hard fork on January 7. However, Ethereum Foundation developer operations engineer Barnabas Busa noted that two client-level optimizations are needed before another increase in the block gas limit — namely, partial blob responses on the execution layer and the max blobs flag on the consensus layer.

How Gas Limits Control Network Capacity

The gas limit determines how many transactions and smart contract operations can fit in each Ethereum block, which is processed roughly every 12 seconds. Raising this ceiling from 60 million to 80 million directly increases throughput — the number of transactions the network can handle per second — while potentially lowering transaction fees through increased supply of block space. Blobs on Ethereum are large data chunks that store transaction and rollup data off-chain, lowering gas costs and increasing scalability without bloating the network.

Two Infrastructure Upgrades Required First

Before the gas limit increase can proceed safely, two optimizations must be completed. The first is partial blob responses on the execution layer, which allows nodes to request and receive only portions of blob data rather than full payloads, reducing bandwidth requirements. The second required optimization is the max blobs flag on the consensus layer, which lets node operators set limits on blob processing to prevent resource exhaustion on hardware-constrained systems.

The 180 Million Gas Target and What Comes Next

Developers will reconvene on January 5 to confirm the precise timing for the gas limit increase following the second BPO hard fork. The meeting will determine whether the two required optimizations have been successfully implemented across major Ethereum clients like Geth, Nethermind, and Besu. While an 80 million gas limit won't match the raw speed or cost structure of Layer 1 competitors like Solana or Sui, it strengthens Ethereum's position as a secure settlement and execution layer. The upgrade preserves decentralization — roughly 900,000 validators currently secure the network, compared to fewer than 2,000 validators on most competing chains — while expanding capacity to meet growing demand from Layer 2 rollups and DeFi protocols that depend on Ethereum as their base layer.

Increasing Ethereum's Gas Limit Has Been a Priority This Year

Increasing Ethereum's gas limit to expand the network's execution capacity has been a major focus for developers and researchers this year, with three increases. The first occurred in early February, increasing it from 30 million to 35 million; the second took place in July, rising to 45 million; and the third occurred in late November, reaching 60 million. Members of the Ethereum developer and research community have expressed a common goal to raise the network's gas limit to 180 million by the end of 2026, which would represent a sixfold increase from the start of 2024.

Conclusion and Future Implications

The upcoming gas limit increase is a significant step towards achieving this goal and further solidifying Ethereum's position in the cryptocurrency market. As the network continues to scale and improve, it is likely to have a positive impact on the overall adoption and usage of Ethereum-based applications and services. With its strong focus on decentralization and security, Ethereum is well-positioned to remain a leading player in the cryptocurrency space for years to come.