Ethereum Blob Limit Bumps Up to 21, Boosting Network Scalability in 2026

Ethereum’s scalability has received a major boost with the second Blob Parameter-Only (BPO) hard fork, raising the blob limit from 15 to 21 as of January 7, 2026. This change allows for more data to be processed per block, supporting increased transaction throughput via rollups.

The BPO-2 hard fork also raised the blob target from 10 to 14, aligning with network goals to avoid overloading node storage. With one blob unit containing 128 KB of data, the updated limit allows Ethereum to store up to 2,688 KB in a single block.

Gas fees on the Ethereum mainnet have been more stable since the first BPO hard fork in December 2025. The increased scalability is helping reduce congestion and lower costs for users, particularly in layer 2 environments.

Why Did This Happen?

The BPO hard fork is part of a broader effort to scale Ethereum’s data capacity without compromising security or decentralization. Developers have long aimed to process more transactions per block while keeping gas fees manageable. The second BPO upgrade follows the first in December 2025 and builds on the foundation laid by Ethereum’s layer 2 rollup infrastructure.

The move was also discussed in an Ethereum All Core Developers meeting in December 2025, where participants considered further increases to the network gas limit from 60 million to 80 million.

How Did Markets React?

The Ethereum upgrade is supporting the growth of layer 2 networks like Arbitrum and Optimism. These platforms benefit from lower fees and higher throughput, making Ethereum a more competitive option for decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and tokenized assets.

Ethereum’s lead in the real-world asset tokenization market is also bolstered by these improvements. The network holds about 65% of the on-chain value, or roughly $19 billion, and its share exceeds 70% when including layer-2 and EVM-compatible chains.

What Are Analysts Watching Next?

The next major step in Ethereum’s scalability roadmap is the Glamsterdam hard fork, expected later in 2026. This upgrade aims to increase the gas limit to 200 million and introduce “perfect parallel processing” through Ethereum Improvement Proposal-7928.

Perfect parallel processing will allow Ethereum to handle more transactions simultaneously, reducing bottlenecks and improving throughput. This shift from a single-lane to a multi-lane processing model is expected to further reduce fees and enhance user experience.

In the long term, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has stated that ZK-EVMs are expected to become the primary method for block validation by 2030. These zero-knowledge virtual machines are now at production-grade performance in the alpha stage, working in tandem with Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS).

The combination of PeerDAS and ZK-EVMs is a key milestone in solving the blockchain trilemma of achieving scalability, security, and decentralization. This development marks a turning point in Ethereum’s evolution, with real-world implications for transaction costs and network efficiency.

Developers are also exploring distributed block building as a way to reduce centralization risks and improve geographic fairness in transaction inclusion. These efforts are part of Ethereum's ongoing commitment to maintaining a decentralized and secure network.