Ethereum is poised for a dramatic boost in transaction capacity with the introduction of a new proposal, aiming to increase gas fee limits by 100-fold and potentially reach 2,000 transactions per second.
A new proposal aims to increase gas fee limits by 100-fold, theoretically boosting transactions per second (TPS) to 2,000 in the coming years. The plan, known as Ethereum Improvement Proposal 9698 (EIP-9698), proposes an automatic increase of the blockchain‘s gas limit over four years.
How Does EIP-9698 Work?
The proposal suggests introducing a deterministic ‘exponential’ schedule baked into client defaults, which nudges the gas limit upward by a tiny preset amount every epoch. These predictable gas limit increases allow current validators to keep their machines up to speed, cutting the need for sudden upgrades. The plan would raise the gas limit ceiling from 36 million units to roughly 3.6 billion, allowing an estimated 6,000 simple transfers per block and over 2,000 transactions per second (TPS).
Ethereum's transaction capacity refers to the number of transactions that can be processed on its network within a given time frame.
The current block size limit is set at 1 MB, allowing for approximately 15-30 transactions per block.
However, with the introduction of Ethereum 2.0 (Serenity), the network will shift from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, enabling faster and more scalable transaction processing.
This upgrade aims to increase the capacity to thousands of transactions per second.
A Response to Ethereum’s Scalability Challenges
The proposal addresses a key issue facing Ethereum: its current transaction speed of around 15-20 TPS. The EIP introduces a solution that encourages sustainable and transparent gas limit growth, aligned with expected advancements in hardware and protocol efficiency. This approach aims to overcome the limitations of the current gas limit mechanism, which relies on miner/operator voting and can lead to stagnation or overly cautious increases.
Ethereum's increasing popularity has led to congestion on its network, resulting in high transaction fees and slow processing times.
The platform can only handle a limited number of transactions per second, causing bottlenecks.
To address these scalability challenges, Ethereum is developing technologies like sharding, off-chain transactions, and layer 2 scaling solutions.
These innovations aim to increase the network's capacity, reduce costs, and improve user experience.
Key Timeline
The proposal sets an activation point at Beacon-chain epoch 369017, roughly June 1. An epoch lasts 6.4 minutes and consists of 32 slots, each containing a block, which stores data and adds to the chain. If approved and implemented, the gas limit ceiling would climb from 36 million units to roughly 3.6 billion, allowing an estimated 6,000 simple transfers per block and over 2,000 transactions per second (TPS).
A New Era for Ethereum
The proposal comes as Ethereum faces competition from a bloated landscape of blockchains that offer faster settlement times and significantly lower fees. If implemented successfully, EIP-9698 could revolutionize the way users interact with the Ethereum network, making it more efficient and scalable.
