Ethereum Proposes 16.77 Million Gas Cap Per Transaction to Prevent DoS Attacks

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and researcher Toni Wahrstätter have introduced a new Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-7983) that aims to cap gas usage per transaction at 16.77 million gas (2^24). This proposal is designed to enhance the network's resilience against denial of service (DoS) attacks, stabilize the network structure, and improve predictability in transaction pricing.

The new proposal stipulates that transactions exceeding 16.77 million gas will be deemed invalid and excluded from the transaction pool. Similarly, blocks containing such transactions will also be considered invalid. This limit will be enforced by Ethereum clients during the transaction verification phase, ensuring that no single transaction can monopolize the block gas limit.

The proposal outlines several key points: a gas cap of 16.77 million for all transactions, rejection of transactions exceeding this limit during the verification phase, and the invalidation of blocks containing transactions that surpass the gas limit. Importantly, this transaction limit is independent of the block gas limit, allowing blocks to have higher total gas limits while ensuring no single transaction exceeds 16.77 million gas.

The justification for this proposal includes reducing the risk of DoS attacks by preventing a single transaction from consuming all block gas, enhancing compatibility with zero-knowledge proof (zk Proof) systems, and improving parallel transaction performance by providing a more balanced workload distribution. Buterin and Wahrstätter argue that the 16.77 million gas limit is sufficient to support existing decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and contract deployments while maintaining system performance predictability and security.

This update is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the Ethereum network and ensure its long-term sustainability. By implementing this gas cap, the Ethereum network aims to create a more stable and secure environment for users and developers alike. The proposal is currently in draft status on Github, indicating that it is still under review and may undergo further revisions before implementation.