On the Ethereum, some debates are recurring. And between them, an increase in Gas limit He returns every year. At the beginning of 2024, Vitalik Buterin declared himself a favorable increase of 33%and revived the debate in the community. A year later, the validators would seem to join his position. In fact, they massively signal the desire to strengthen this limit.
- At the beginning of 2024, Vitalik Buterin supported a 33% increase in gas limit, reviving the key debate in the community.
- The valinators finally accepted a 20% increase in this limit and exceeded the gas limit to 36 million units per block, which meant a significant change since 2021.
What is the gas limit on the Ethereum?
Before you get to the heart of the thing, it is advisable to return to what Gas limit. In fact, it is the central part of Ethereum.
You will notice that if you use Ethereum, whether it is during a transaction or interaction with an intelligent contract, you pay for gas charges. Thus, these gas costs allow you to pay the network of sources necessary to perform your action in the Ethereum virtual machine (EVM). This mechanism allows, inter alia, to ensure that the actions cannot turn infinitely and pick all the network sources. Each action you do is connected to the gas, allowing it to be performed, which also allows you to stop if the entire gas was to be consumed.
Part of it The gas limit defines the amount of gas that can be consumed in a block. More precisely, the total sum of the gas that all block transactions can consume.
In particular, this makes it possible to ensure that the blocks maintain a reasonable size. The central component for decentralization, because the larger the blocks, the larger the material sources for contracts. This limit also allows you to ensure that the validation process is accessible in terms of IT sources and is therefore accessible even for even for Domestic validatorsAnd if you and I decide to run a node of the validator from home.
This has increased many times since the creation of Ethereum and is Currently set to 30 million gas units By block.
Debates around this de gas limit
As we approached in the introduction, this limit made often discussed in the community. In fact his increase would improve Ethereum’s performance.
The number of transactions that can be processed in the block directly depends directly on this limit. The higher it is, the more the block can contain a transaction. Therefore would increase Ethereum therapeutic capacityAnd in fact the number of transactions that can be treated per second.
However, as we have also seen, it is In the middle of a complex balance between power and decentralization. If it increases, the size of the blocks increases with it. Therefore, the prerequisites for the validator node control are also increasing.
And this is the heart of the debate about this limit: to maintain a balance between decentralization and performance.
For example, when it takes the position of buterin in favor of an increase at the beginning of 2024, many actors in the network have pointed to the risks that could cause it. This is especially the case Developer Marius van der Wijden, who then identified several risks ::
- Increasing the number of unlikely blocks;
- disproportionate chain size growth;
- increase in network latency;
- Increasing the assumptions of the material.
So many valid notes of shared community parts.
Gas limit increased by 20% by verify
In the end, the validators seem to have found common ground. In fact, they are those who choose the limit of gas practiced in the net through their naliter node.
On Tuesday 4 February, therefore, validators who wish to increase this limit become mostly in the network with 51.8% of validators’ nodes in favor of a limit of greater than 30 million gas. As we see on data assembled by Gaslimit.pics, the change of position seems to have been between the validators since the beginning of the year. In early January, only 21.5% of validators indicated that their desire to see how they increase.
Therefore, this gas limit is automatically increased to Ethereum. And for the first time since 2021 and passage to evidence for a share.
Estimates should be increased until reach a new limit to 36 million gas unit per blockor 20% increase.
At least this week we will have good news on Ethereum. The beginning of the week was really heavy ETH holders who saw their course ranges from $ 3,000 to $ 2,500 in the area of several hours.