Over 50% of Ethereum validators have signalled their support for raising the network’s gas limit, marking a significant milestone in Ethereum’s ability to scale.
As of February 4, more than half of the validators, 52% to be precise, have voted in favour of the adjustment.Â
Ethereum to Increase Gas Limit
This surpassed the threshold needed to trigger the change, which is set at 50%. As a result, the Ethereum network has successfully increased the maximum amount of gas that can be used for transactions in a single block, expanding its capacity without requiring a hard fork.
Validators can modify their node configurations to show support for an increase in the gas limit. Once enough validators indicate their agreement, the network automatically adjusts the limit.
This adjustment allows Ethereum to scale in response to growing demand without undergoing a disruptive hard fork, a key feature of Ethereum’s proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
A Step Towards Network Scalability
Since August 2021, the average gas limit on Ethereum has remained around 30 million gas units, after it was raised from 15 million.
The current increase follows months of discussions within the Ethereum community about scaling the Layer 1 network to handle more transactions and reduce congestion.
The approval of over 50% of validators is a significant achievement, as it indicates broad consensus within the Ethereum network.Â
This change is the first under Ethereum’s new proof-of-stake mechanism, which replaced the previous proof-of-work model as part of the network’s transition to a more energy-efficient system.
The last gas limit adjustment, which doubled the limit from 15 million to 30 million, took place in 2021.
Ethereum’s Community Debate
Before the vote, there was intense debate within the Ethereum community. Some developers and stakeholders argued that increasing the gas limit to 36 million would enhance the network’s capacity and further encourage innovation by making room for more complex dApps and transactions.
Those in favour of the increase highlighted the growing demand for blockchain transactions and the need for more capacity to maintain Ethereum’s competitive edge in the rapidly evolving space.
While the vote has passed, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has emphasized that this is just one step in Ethereum’s ongoing evolution. He is now calling for the Pectra fork, expected in March, which will further adjust Ethereum’s scaling mechanisms.
Specifically, the Pectra fork will increase the blob target from three to six, allowing for even more data storage and processing capacity.
Vitalik Buterin’s Vision for Future Scaling
Buterin’s call for the Pectra fork is part of a broader vision to ensure that Ethereum can continue to scale in response to technological advancements.
He has stated that the gas limit can be increased dynamically in response to improvements in technology, without waiting for the disruptive and slow process of hard forks.Â
Pectra will also use a similar validator voting mechanism to the gas limit increase, further decentralizing the decision-making process.
Ethereum Price Actions
As of the latest data, Ethereum is trading at $2,710.19, with a 4.05% increase in the last 24 hours. The global market cap stands at $326.23 billion, although the 24-hour trading volume has decreased by 33.63%.
Despite the fluctuations in trading volume and price, Ethereum’s ongoing scalability improvements are seen as a key factor that could drive long-term growth and adoption.
The approval of the gas limit increase is a step toward making Ethereum more adaptable and capable of meeting the growing demands of its users.
As the blockchain ecosystem continues to evolve, changes like these will likely play an essential role in ensuring Ethereum’s position as a leading platform for decentralized applications and financial transactions.
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