Ethereum Proposes 16.77M Gas Limit to Boost Network Stability

Ethereum's latest price was $2571.06, up 2.237% in the last 24 hours. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Toni Wahrstätter, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, have proposed a new measure to enhance the network's resilience against certain Denial of Service (DoS) attack vectors. The proposal, EIP 7983, aims to cap the maximum gas a single transaction can use, thereby improving network stability and providing more predictability to transaction processing costs. This proposal is a modified version of EIP 7825, which was introduced in November last year but has since stagnated. The new proposal sets a limit of 16.77 million gas for any single transaction, nearly half of the 30 million gas limit proposed in EIP 7825. This limit will be applicable irrespective of the block gas limit set by miners or validators. Transactions specifying a gas limit above 16.77 million gas will be invalidated, and any block containing such transactions will become invalid. Buterin and Wahrstätter believe this limit will provide a balance between allowing complex transactions while maintaining predictable execution bounds, enabling most current use cases, including contract deployments and advanced DeFi interactions, while ensuring consistent performance characteristics. The implementation of this proposal will require users and decentralized applications (dApps) to split transactions with higher gas limits into smaller operations. However, the impact on users and dApps is expected to be minimal since most current transactions fall well below the proposed limit.

Ethereum’s current architecture allows transactions to theoretically consume the entire gas limit of a block, which carries several risks. For instance, allowing a single transaction to consume most or all of the block gas limit can make it easier for miscreants to execute DoS attacks. In DoS attacks, bad actors try to overwhelm a network through a barrage of spam transactions, causing the network to fail to provide service to genuine users. The absence of a transaction gas limit can also lead to uneven load distribution and affect network stability. Having variable gas usage can cause an imbalance in load distribution across transactions in a block. Furthermore, high-gas transactions also cause longer block verification times, which can impact user experience. Limiting the gas usage limit of single transactions can help reduce the risk of single-transaction DoS attacks. Essentially, the limit will set a guardrail that prevents malicious actors from using the network’s bandwidth through large spam transactions. The limit would also ensure that gas is allocated fairly across transactions in a block, making the validation of blocks more predictable and uniform. The most important benefit, however, would be enhanced compatibility with zero-knowledge virtual machines (zkVMs). Encouraging transactions with hefty gas limits to be broken up into smaller chunks allows better participation in distributed proving systems, and enables more predictable zkVM circuit design.

During EthCC 2025, Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin emphasized the network’s stability and dependability as key reasons for institutional adoption. Notable firms like Deutsche Bank and BlackRock expanded their presence on Ethereum, leveraging its infrastructure. Robinhood’s introduction of tokenized stocks on Arbitrum and Deutsche Bank’s development of a tokenization platform on zkSync further affirm Ethereum’s appeal. BlackRock’s moves into tokenized assets highlight a trend towards blockchain integration in finance. As institutions integrate more tokenized assets via Ethereum, the network’s liquidity and TVL grow, strengthening its financial backbone. These actions indicate confidence in Ethereum’s capabilities and stability. Ethereum’s architecture has long appealed to technology executives. Its reliability and robust infrastructure make it a preferred choice for safe, transparent digital operations, crucial for financial institutions transitioning to blockchain. Expectations lean towards further institutional engagement with Ethereum, with stability, compliance, and technological reliability as primary drivers. Historic patterns suggest more on-chain financial products will be developed, leveraging Ethereum as a trustworthy backbone.

Ethereum Foundation’s Justin Drake recently revealed the ambitious "Gigagas Era" roadmap intended to elevate Ethereum’s scalability to 10 million transactions per second using advanced zk-rollup technology. The new roadmap aims to enhance Ethereum’s scalability, potentially leading to major industry shifts and technological enhancements by focusing on zk-rollups and native rollup infrastructure. The discussed upgrades may have substantial financial implications. ETH, whose staking and liquidity distributions depend significantly on protocol upgrades, could see shifts. Affected parties include liquid staking tokens like LDO and RPL, with over 60% Ethereum TVL in LSTs, suggesting a possible shift in industry dominance once the new scalability paradigm takes shape. Anticipated upgrades have historical precedent. Past upgrades such as Ethereum’s Beacon Chain launch significantly altered staking behaviors and TVL migrations. Major tokens potentially affected include ETH, LDO, RPL, and rollup-centric tokens like OP and ARB. As Ethereum progresses, shifts in TVL and stake redistributions are expected. Immediate effects may ripple across industries relying on Ethereum for transactional throughput, potentially influencing markets relying heavily on DeFi protocols and Layer 2 solutions. The new era underscores a focus on enhancing decentralization and network security while exploring resources to maximize scalability. As Ethereum transitions into this era, industry experts anticipate shifts in staking patterns and rollup incentives leading to robust ecosystem resilience. In conclusion, Ethereum’s "Gigagas Era" presents transformative changes enhancing network throughput and scalability. Regulatory and technological outcomes stemming from this development may significantly impact related industries and assets, suggesting a transformative period for Ethereum and its stakeholders. As Justin Drake, Researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, stated, "This is the definitive conversation on Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap, its current bottlenecks, and the research powering its long-term ossification through optimality."

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a significant protocol adjustment aimed at enhancing network security. This proposal, identified as Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 7983, advocates for establishing a maximum limit on transaction gas consumption per block. The suggested cap is set at approximately 16.77 million units of gas. This initiative, developed collaboratively with researcher Toni Wahrstätter, seeks to improve network stability and security by managing computational load more predictably. If successfully integrated into the Ethereum protocol, this change would represent a fundamental shift in how network resources are allocated and managed, potentially mitigating risks associated with sudden spikes in transaction complexity.

Sentiment within Ethereum's derivatives market reflects a markedly positive outlook among traders. Analysis of open options contracts scheduled to expire in July reveals a strong bullish bias, with nearly 80% of the active call option positions anticipating favorable price movement. This overwhelming skew towards calls indicates a dominant expectation among derivatives traders that Ethereum's value proposition will strengthen in the near term. The concentration in calls significantly outweighs put options, underscoring a collective market confidence based on underlying network fundamentals.