Ethereum Gas Limit Hits 37M: Fees to Drop Soon?

2025-07-22

Ethereum’s gas limit has just crossed 37 million units for the first time since February, sparking new discussions among developers, validators, and users alike.

This subtle yet significant increase could potentially push Ethereum’s transaction throughput closer to 18 transactions per second, raising questions about whether higher gas limits will finally reduce transaction fees compared to its competitors.

However, the clarity of this upgrade remains in question, and caution is warranted as even the official whitepaper is inaccessible at the moment.

What Does the Gas Limit Increase Mean for Ethereum?

Ethereum’s gas limit is essentially the maximum amount of computational work that can be included in a block. On Sunday, data from Etherscan showed the limit rising to 37.3 million units, marking nearly a 3% increase from last week.

This change allows more transactions to be processed in each block, potentially enhancing the overall efficiency of the network. Validators, who play a central role in these adjustments, can tweak the gas limit by approximately 0.1% per block if there is enough collective agreement.

Validator's Support

Currently, nearly half of staked validators are signalling their support to push the gas limit towards 45 million. This shift indicates a broad sense of trust among validators in recent technical upgrades to Ethereum’s core software.

Vitalik Buterin himself commented that close to 50% of all staked Ether holders are leaning in favour of the increase. If this level of support continues to rise, a gas limit of 45 million could soon become a reality.

Competitors like Solana and Avalanche, however, continue to boast higher transaction per second capabilities. While Ethereum edges closer to 18 TPS with this update, Solana frequently claims over 2,000 TPS, and Avalanche ranges around 4,500 TPS in ideal conditions.

Thus, despite Ethereum’s recent progress, the gap between it and its rivals remains substantial in pure throughput terms.

The Rising Gas Limit

It is important to note that raising the gas limit does not directly guarantee cheaper transaction fees. Instead, fees depend on network congestion and user demand.

Increasing block capacity does ease bottlenecks in theory, but higher computational loads could also increase the strain on node operators, which in turn may raise operational costs elsewhere within the ecosystem.

Moreover, developers have cautioned that higher gas limits could lead to longer synchronisation times for nodes, potentially weakening decentralisation if fewer participants are able to keep up with blockchain validation requirements.

This aspect remains a crucial concern as Ethereum seeks to retain its reputation as a truly decentralised network amid scalability upgrades.

Validators and Developers: Alignments, Challenges, and Future Prospects

The move to increase the gas limit gained momentum earlier this year when developers and node operators began advocating for a smoother mainnet experience.

Optimisations from the Geth team, particularly improvements in archive node performance, helped lower risks tied to processing heavier blocks, setting the stage for this recent change.

Validators are now rallying behind higher block capacity to improve transaction speeds. According to Chainspect data, Ethereum’s throughput rose to nearly 18 TPS over the weekend, up from around 15 TPS in February when the last gas limit increase occurred.

The Comparison

Although these figures reflect progress, they still fall short of delivering the near-instant settlement speeds that users often expect, especially when compared with faster chains like Solana or layer-2 rollups built atop Ethereum.

The recent upgrades are not just about validator decisions. They also hinge on broader technical enhancements within Ethereum’s ecosystem. For example, the upcoming Danksharding upgrade aims to address scalability at a more fundamental level by reorganising data availability and transaction processing.

Until then, incremental gas limit adjustments remain the main lever for short-term throughput improvements.

Market Volumes

Daily transaction volumes continue to rise, reaching approximately 1.4 million compared to 1.1 million in April. This surge coincides with positive market sentiment, as Ether briefly touched $3,800 on Sunday, its highest point in seven months.

Analysts attribute this momentum to increasing institutional interest alongside broader optimism in the cryptocurrency market.

However, there is an underlying risk to note. While higher gas limits may improve user experiences in the short term, it remains unclear how sustainable this approach will be without negatively impacting node operation costs and decentralisation.

Furthermore, the official whitepaper on this upgrade remains inaccessible, making it difficult to assess the full implications with certainty.

Users, developers, and investors should therefore approach these changes with measured optimism while remaining aware of potential drawbacks.

How Does Ethereum Compare with Other Networks After This Increase?

When comparing Ethereum to its competitors after this gas limit increase, the contrasts become clearer. Solana, for instance, prioritises speed by sacrificing some levels of decentralisation, achieving thousands of TPS with relatively low fees under ideal network conditions.

Avalanche similarly achieves higher throughput through its unique consensus mechanism, offering fast finality times.

Ethereum, on the other hand, continues to focus on decentralisation, security, and gradual scalability. Its approach involves a mix of on-chain upgrades such as gas limit increases and off-chain solutions like rollups.

Ethereum Strategy

This strategy, while safer in the eyes of many developers, naturally limits its TPS growth compared to networks that prioritise speed over decentralisation.

Moreover, Ethereum’s fee structure is inherently tied to user demand, meaning that even with higher throughput, gas fees may not reduce significantly if demand also rises.

The real potential for reduced fees lies in effective integration of layer-2 scaling solutions such as Optimism and Arbitrum, which bundle multiple transactions into a single Ethereum transaction to distribute costs more efficiently.

Users should therefore temper expectations around cheaper fees following the gas limit boost alone. It is likely to slightly alleviate congestion, but transformative reductions in transaction costs will only come with more comprehensive scaling implementations in the medium to long term.

Risk to Watch

Lastly, there remains uncertainty around the clarity and documentation of this upgrade. The official whitepaper outlining the rationale and risks of this particular gas limit increase is currently inaccessible.

This lack of transparency underscores the importance of caution before drawing firm conclusions on Ethereum’s current and future competitiveness in the high-speed blockchain landscape.

Conclusion

Ethereum’s gas limit surpassing 37 million units marks a noteworthy technical milestone, reflecting the network’s ongoing efforts to improve scalability and user experience.

However, while this change nudges transaction throughput higher, it does not automatically guarantee lower fees, especially with persistent network demand.

Compared to rivals like Solana and Avalanche, Ethereum’s progress remains measured rather than revolutionary. Moreover, the absence of accessible documentation for this upgrade calls for prudence.

Users and developers are encouraged to stay informed, maintain realistic expectations, and continue observing how Ethereum’s scaling roadmap unfolds in the months ahead.

Ready to Invest in Real Crypto Assets?

If you're looking for a trusted platform to explore verified crypto assets with clear documentation and strong user reviews, consider registering on Bitrue. It’s a secure place to manage your crypto investments—away from political noise.