Currently, the Ethereum network imposes a gas cap per block, which limits the maximum transaction fee per block and subsequently affects the number of transactions that can be processed. With the intention of accommodating more transactions, Buterin advocates for increasing the gas limit in Ethereum blocks. The current limit stands at 30 million gas, and Buterin suggests raising it to 40 million gas, which represents a 33% increment.
The initial gas limit per block was set at only 3 million when the Ethereum network was launched, but it has been raised multiple times since then. The most recent increase occurred nearly three years ago.
“Honestly, I believe a slight increase in the gas limit would be a reasonable move,” commented Buterin during a question and answer session on the Reddit online forum.
By raising the gas limit, the number of transactions processed in each block and the overall throughput of the Ethereum network would increase as well. However, this adjustment might also lead to increased strain on equipment and data networks.
Towards the end of last year, Vitalik Buterin proposed various options aimed at streamlining the Ethereum consensus algorithm.