Ethereum increases its block gas limit from 45M to 60M, doubling its operational margin in a year and responding to the growing pressure from DeFi and rollups.
A Rise Approved by Validators and Driven by the Community
The Ethereum ecosystem has taken a clear lead in the scaling race. The network has raised its block gas limit from 45M to 60M, a massive increase that immediately boosts transaction processing capacity. This decision comes as throughput metrics are already breaking records, and the Fusaka hard fork is rapidly approaching. In a market where every millisecond counts, such a leap is never neutral.
Of course, the gas limit increase was not imposed: over half of the validators gave their approval, triggering the automatic adjustment on November 25. Behind this vote lies a clear demand: absorb the growing pressure from DeFi, rollups, and applications that are maxing out the layer 1 bandwidth.
The Ethereum Foundation researcher, Toni Wahrstätter, describes this moment as the culmination of a year of coordinated efforts. Doubling the network’s operational margin to 60 million in a year is a rare acceleration at this infrastructure level. For an ecosystem accustomed to progressing in cautious iterations, this move signals a change of pace.
Why It Holds Technically: A Trio of Key Advances
The increase would not have been approved without three structuring improvements. The first: EIP-7623, a protocol-level safeguard that strengthens block weight management. Next, client optimizations have enhanced node efficiency, reducing the risks of slow propagation or desynchronization. Finally, months of testing on testnets confirmed that the network remained stable, even under heavier simulated loads.
This technical mix provides enough room to aim for a more aggressive scaling of layer 1 while maintaining stability, a balance that the community considers sacred.
Vitalik Tempers: More Capacity, but More Precision in 2026
Vitalik Buterin points out that this increase is just a step. According to him, the coming years will focus on targeted optimizations. In other words: sometimes increase the gas limit, yes, but simultaneously adjust the cost of the most resource-intensive operations. This would include heavy precompiles, complex opcodes, or certain contract calls.
This approach aims to avoid drifting block sizes while allowing superior throughput. A hybrid strategy that aligns with the Ethereum spirit: flexibility, but not at the expense of security.
Meanwhile, Rollups are Breaking Records
Another key piece to grasp the moment: scaling networks have exceeded 31,000 TPS combined in the last 24 hours. Lighter dominates with over 5,455 TPS and nearly 1.2 billion in TVL, while Base shows 137 TPS. This dynamic strengthens the notion that layer 1 must absorb more data if rollups continue to accelerate.
Fusaka Arrives: PeerDAS Will Reshuffle the Deck
Everything is aligned for a coordinated power-up. The Fusaka hard fork, set for December 3, will feature PeerDAS, a new data availability model that Vitalik describes as essential for future scaling. The goal: streamline, secure, and amplify the rollups’ ability to publish their data.
Fusaka also includes client updates, consensus refinements, and security enhancements. A methodical preparation to absorb the explosive growth of an ecosystem that keeps sending a clear message: Ethereum wants to remain the central engine of Web3 and is gearing up for the years ahead.
