Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano believes the target of significantly increasing Ethereum’s gas limit to 180 million next year represents a minimum goal, rather than an optimistic projection.
“I think that’s the floor, that’s the minimum, I think we can go higher than that,” Sassano stated during an interview on the Bankless podcast. This discussion followed the recent increase of the Ethereum mainnet block gas limit from 45 million to 60 million, a move that allows for more transactions within each block.
Sassano elaborated on the general consensus among core developers and researchers, which aims for at least a threefold increase in the gas limit over the next couple of years.
He further highlighted that some Ethereum core developers are actively discussing the possibility of a fivefold increase in the gas limit within the coming year.
Achieving Higher ETH Gas Limits Through Transaction Repricing
This potential expansion of the gas limit is a crucial development for Ethereum users, as a higher limit enables the network to process more operations per block, including essential functions like swaps, token transfers, and smart contract interactions.
Sassano explained that developers can facilitate this increase by rebalancing transaction costs. This involves making certain activities on Ethereum less expensive while increasing the cost of others.
He provided an example: “We can lower the cost of a basic ETH transfer from 21,000 gas to 6,000 gas, which is an over 70% cost reduction, while keeping the gas limit the same.” By strategically redistributing and repricing these activities, the network could effectively support higher gas limits.
“We’re basically trading efficiencies here,” Sassano remarked. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has also been a proponent of this approach, advocating for higher costs for operations deemed “relatively inefficient to process,” which could pave the way for a potential fivefold increase in the gas limit.
Ethereum's Fusaka Upgrade Nears Mainnet Debut
Sassano, co-author of the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) alongside Ethereum core developer Ben Adams, indicated that their proposal aims to be included in Ethereum’s Glamsterdam upgrade, scheduled for the first half of 2026.
Multiple Ethereum developers have recently commented on the network’s recent gas limit increase to 60 million, a change supported by over 513,000 validators. Ben Adams shared his perspective on X, stating, “Remember when ‘double L1 gas’ sounded spicy on Twitter?”
Adams further commented on the rapid evolution of the gas limit discussion, noting, “The Ethereum gas limit debate went from 'too risky' to 'already live' in under a year.” Echoing this sentiment, Ethereum core developer Toni Wahrstätter observed, “That’s a 2× increase in a single year — and it’s only the beginning.”
This development precedes a significant upcoming network upgrade known as Fusaka, which is designed to enhance Ethereum’s scalability. The upgrade successfully transitioned to the Hoodi testnet on October 29, marking the final stage before its anticipated mainnet launch on December 3.