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Core ethereum developers have started the “pump the gas” campaign to increase the blockchain's gas limit from 30 million to 40 million.
The initiative aims to reduce transaction fees on its primary layer by between 15% and 33%, as announced on March 20. The idea comes from Eric Connor, a key ethereum developer, and Mariano Conti, former head of smart contracts at MakerDAO, through a recently established website for the initiative. It aims to accommodate 33% more daily transaction volume on ethereum, potentially significantly reducing layer 1 transaction fees.
Central for the Campaign The concern is that while the data blobs introduced in the Dencun upgrade via EIP-4844 have successfully reduced Layer 2 transaction prices, Layer 1 fees have remained unchanged. The developers believe that by increasing the gas limit and using data blobs, scaling of layer 1 and 2 networks could be greatly improved.
crypto.news reached out to Connors for more information but did not receive a response.
Gas, measured in gwei (a fraction of Ether), is used to complete transactions or execute smart contracts. As such, the gas limit is a crucial parameter for the ethereum network. Determines the maximum amount of gas that can be used for transactions or smart contracts in a block. As of August 2021, the limit is set at 30 million.
Gas limit standardization ensures that block sizes are kept at a manageable level, thereby maintaining network speed and synchronization. When new blocks are formed, validators can dynamically modify these limits based on certain criteria.
The idea behind increasing the gas limit is that it allows for more transactions per block, which will make the network faster and more capable. However, this also means greater demand on hardware resources, leading to increased risks of network spam and vulnerability to attacks.
In the past, the gas limit was adjusted gradually to accommodate network growth. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of ethereum, formerly ethereum/comments/191kke6/comment/kh7ekx3/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>proposed raising it to 40 million in January, in line with growing support for this change within the community.
This proposal has received support within the ethereum community, as evidenced by active discussions and endorsement on social media platforms, and a Rocket Pool validator already proposed a block reflecting the new 40 million gas limit on 20 March.
Although some community members and developers are hopeful, doubts have been aired. Evan Van Ness, a venture capitalist and ethereum advocate, expressed cynicism about increasing the gas limit, especially since the EIP-4844 via Dencun upgrade also had an impact on the block size.
Concerns about the possible increase in the gas limit earlier this year were also expressed by Marius van der Wijden, an ethereum engineer, who stated that it could affect the state of the blockchain, which includes data related to smart contracts and account balances. He noted that while size alone might not be the main problem, accessing and altering this data could become increasingly slower.
The ethereum network has faced persistent scalability issues since its inception. This has also been a key reason behind the high gas rates the network has experienced during times of high load. On March 4, 2024, gas rates reached 174 gwei. Whether this new initiative manages to deliver on its promise remains to be seen.
