Vitalik Buterin proposes increasing the gas limit on the Ethereum network

During the AMA session at Reddit Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin allowed the network gas limit to be increased to 40 million (+33%) to increase throughput.

Ethereum gas limit. Data: etherscan.

The gas limit represents the maximum computing power that can be expended on processing transactions or executing smart contracts in a single block. Currently, its permissible volume is at the level of 30 million.

However, Gnosis co-founder Martin Köppelmann noted that increasing the gas limit would lead to higher operating costs for validators. But he believes the benefits of the initiative outweigh the potential problems.

Unlike other innovations in Ethereum that required hard forks, this change is implemented by validators adjusting node configurations.

Lead developer of the Base L2 protocol, Jess Pollack, also expressed support for change.

In a Reddit thread, Buterin expressed his readiness to accept the proposal to remove the 32 ETH limit for validators (EIP-7251). However, before this it is necessary to obtain “strict guarantees” [добросовестности валидаторов]”, the developer explained.

Answering the question about the second EVM, the co-founder of the second largest cryptocurrency by capitalization allowed for its complete replacement with smart contracts with the successful development of ZK-SNARK. This would significantly reduce the total number of lines of Ethereum code, he said.

At the end of December, Buterin shared plans for the development of Ethereum in 2024, presenting an updated roadmap.

Previously, he proposed reviving the “cypherpunk” revolution that was conceived for the network at the dawn of its existence.

In November, the developer released an essay “My Techno-Optimism,” where he shared his opinion on the impact of blockchain and artificial intelligence on the development of human civilization.