Ethereum Developers Propose 150 Million Gas Limit Increase for Fusaka Hard Fork

Ethereum developers are exploring a significant increase in the gas limit as part of the upcoming Fusaka hard fork, with discussions centering around raising it to 150 million. This proposal, detailed in Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 9678, was introduced by Sophia Gold, a developer on the protocol support team at the Ethereum Foundation, on April 23. The primary goal of this increase is to enhance layer 1 scaling and address the network's capacity constraints, which have become more pronounced as the network's usage grows.
During the last All Core Devs Execution (ACDE) meeting, developers emphasized the importance of making the gas limit increase a key feature of the Fusaka hard fork. Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko underscored the need to align on client defaults and prioritize this development. The plan is to merge the EIP early next week and formally propose it during the next ACDE meeting. Beiko noted that as this work progresses, additional changes may be identified to support a higher gas limit, potentially leading to more EIPs being added to Fusaka, despite the fork's scope being finalized.
The next Ethereum upgrade, Pectra, is scheduled to go live on the mainnet in May, with Fusaka potentially going online in late 2025. Developers behind the EIP stress the importance of giving client developers ample time to test and fix any bugs that may arise from increasing the gas limit. Beiko stated that while validators ultimately set the gas limit, having an EIP to coordinate client defaults would help keep this a priority and ensure all clients update their defaults by the time Fusaka goes live.
The motivation behind increasing the gas limit is the growing interest in scaling layer 1 execution, which could be achieved by implementing new features. However, this requires guidance from execution layer developers, as they anticipate encountering bugs in clients at higher gas limits than those currently used on the mainnet. This process will require significant time from client developers to test and fix any issues, making it sensible to include this change as an EIP in a hard fork to commit to this development.
In summary, the proposed increase in Ethereum’s gas limit to 150 million is a significant development that could enhance the network’s scalability and operational efficiency. As the Fusaka hard fork approaches, developers are prioritizing collaborative strategies to ensure a seamless transition. The coming months will be critical in shaping Ethereum’s architecture and addressing potential challenges that may arise from this substantial change.

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