Ethereum is edging closer to a significant performance upgrade, with its network gas limit now on track to reach 45 million units — a move that could substantially boost transaction throughput.
In an update shared on July 20, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin revealed that nearly half of validators are backing the proposed increase, which has already raised the block gas limit to 37.3 million units. On Ethereum, gas serves as the unit of computational cost required to process transactions and execute smart contracts, with users paying for gas in ETH to deter spam and maintain fair network pricing.
Almost exactly 50% of stake is voting to increase the L1 gas limit to 45m. The gas limit is already starting to increase, now at 37.3m. pic.twitter.com/omUKQHuBvz
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) July 20, 2025
The gas limit sets the ceiling for computation per block, determining how many transactions can be included. Currently, a standard ETH transfer consumes about 21,000 gas units, but the block gas limit controls the aggregate computational load that miners or validators can handle in each block.
Historically, Ethereum’s block gas limit has increased alongside rising network demand and technical progress. After its transition to proof-of-stake in 2022, the gas limit remained unchanged for over three years until February 2025, when it rose to 36 million. The latest incremental rise to 37.3 million lays the groundwork for a planned leap to 45 million, representing a 50% increase compared to pre-2025 limits.
This push has been made possible by recent client optimizations. For instance, the Geth v1.16.0 upgrade drastically reduced archive node storage needs from over 20 terabytes to under 2 terabytes. Such improvements minimize centralization risks by enabling smaller operators to continue running nodes without requiring enterprise-grade hardware.
Proponents argue that higher gas limits will reduce network congestion during peak times and improve support for decentralized applications and layer-2 solutions. However, critics caution that larger blocks could strain node operators with limited resources, accelerate blockchain growth, and heighten risks of synchronization delays or chain splits if upgrades are poorly managed.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin mining firm BTC Digital announced a sweeping overhaul of its treasury strategy, opting to liquidate all its Bitcoin reserves and pivot entirely to Ethereum.
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