Vitalik Buterin Argues for Higher ETH Gas Limit to Boost Censorship Resistance and Reduce Costs | Airdrop Alert Pro

Last week, Ethereum’s ability to process more transactions was boosted when validators decided to raise gas limits for the first time since the end of 2021, especially since the network merger. Despite this increase, Vitalik Buterin believes that ETH gas limits should be increased. He believes that higher gas limits will better support the development of transaction inclusion and applications, especially when most activities occur on layer 2 solutions.

Ethereum gas limit needs to be increased by 10 times

Vitalik Buterin proposes that as more activity moves to layer 2 (L2) solutions, Ethereum needs to significantly improve its layer 1 (L1) gas capacity to better support transactions and application development. In the nearest one Blog Postshe suggested expanding the L1 capacity by about ten times, ensuring basic network functionality is maintained even if the application is transferred to L2.

By increasing gas limits, Ethereum can handle more transactions and complex operations per block, which will also affect transaction fees.

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Vitalik Buterin advocates further elevating gas restrictions on Ethereum even after it recently increased from 30 million to 36 million. Higher gas limits mean more transactions can adapt to each block, but it also accelerates the growth of Ethereum data, so running full nodes becomes more difficult over time.

If running nodes become too dense, few people may choose to operate on their own, which may lead to more dependence on centralized node providers and less decentralization of Ethereum.

L1 acts as a safety net

Buterin highlighted the importance of L1 as a security mechanism in case a large Layer 2 platform fails, noting that if Ethereum’s current capacity may not be sufficient to manage heavily used L2 collapses. He roughly calculated that without improvement, Ethereum will need to be expanded nearly 9 times to effectively handle large-scale exports.

Vitalik Buterin analyzed the potential mass regressing from L2 to Ethereum’s main chain (L1), and found that under the current gas setup, millions of millions can exit safely within a week to a month, depending on in the system settings. He proposed optimizations that can reduce the gas required for each outlet, thereby improving safety during network pressure.

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He also talked about the risks associated with launching ERC20 tokens on L2, which advocates release on L1 despite the higher costs to mitigate governance risks.

Buterin also points to the challenges of mobile assets such as low-capacity tokens and NFTs between Layer 2 platforms that usually require passing Tier 1 and can be expensive under current restrictions. He estimates that to reduce these costs to a reasonable level, Ethereum’s Layer 1 capacity will need to increase by about 5.5 times.