Ethereum Foundation researcher Dankrad Feist has proposed a significant scaling solution that could potentially increase the blockchain's transaction processing capacity by 100 times over a four-year period, potentially reaching 2,000 transactions per second.
What to Know:
- The proposal would gradually increase Ethereum's gas limit from 36 million to 3.6 billion
- If implemented, Ethereum could process up to 2,000 transactions per second, competing with Solana's 800-1,050 TPS
- Validators would need to approve the proposal before implementation, with the first changes potentially starting around June 1
In a detailed Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-9698) submitted on April 27, Feist outlined a "deterministic gas limit growth schedule" that would begin at epoch 369017, approximately June 1. The plan introduces a predictable exponential growth pattern that aligns with anticipated advancements in hardware and protocol efficiency.
Gas Limit Expansion Could Transform Ethereum's Scalability
Feist, who had Ethereum's "danksharding" data storage solution named after him, envisions a gradual increase in the gas limit by a factor of 10 over roughly two years, spanning 164,250 epochs. A final tenfold increase would follow this initial period, completing the transformative scaling process.
"By introducing a predictable exponential growth pattern as a client default, this EIP encourages a sustainable and transparent gas limit trajectory, aligned with expected advancements in hardware and protocol efficiency," Feist wrote in the proposal.
The ambitious plan would expand the current gas limit of 36 million to 3.6 billion, potentially allowing approximately 6,000 transactions to fit into Ethereum blocks. This represents a dramatic increase from the current capacity, which occasionally reaches 20 transactions per second during periods dominated by simple transactions.
If implemented, the proposal would significantly enhance Ethereum's position against competitors like Solana, which currently processes between 800 to 1,050 non-vote transactions per second and has a theoretical capacity of 65,000 TPS. The change would mark a substantial improvement for the world's second-largest blockchain network.
The proposal follows a more modest increase earlier this year when Ethereum validators agreed to raise the gas limit from 30 million to 36 million in February. Prior to that adjustment, the last change to Ethereum's gas limit occurred during the London hard fork in August 2021, which approximately doubled the figure from 15 million to 30 million.
Feist acknowledges potential challenges associated with such rapid expansion. A substantial increase in the gas limit may stress less-optimized nodes and increase block propagation times across the network. However, he maintains that the gradual implementation provides sufficient adaptation time.
"The exponential schedule with very gradual increments per epoch gives node operators and developers ample time to adapt and optimize," Feist explained in his proposal documentation.
Broader Scaling Initiatives Underway
EIP-9698 represents the Ethereum community's latest effort to boost scalability at the base layer after years of primarily focusing on Layer 2 scaling solutions. Critics of Ethereum's Layer 2 strategy have argued that it fragments the ecosystem into several isolated chains with limited interoperability, resulting in a degraded user experience.
In a parallel development, Ethereum developers are exploring another gas limit increase through EIP-9678, which proposes a fourfold increase to be tested in the upcoming Fusaka hard fork. This hard fork has been tentatively scheduled for late 2025.
Meanwhile, the next major Ethereum upgrade, known as Pectra, is scheduled to go live on the mainnet in May, continuing the blockchain's technical evolution.
Final Thoughts
Feist's proposal represents a bold vision for Ethereum's scalability that could dramatically increase the network's transaction capacity. While challenges remain and validator approval is required, EIP-9698 signals a renewed focus on base layer scaling after years of Layer 2 development.
