Ethereum has never advanced in spectacular fits and starts. Its evolution rather resembles a series of fine adjustments, sometimes invisible to the general public, but decisive in the long term. And January could mark a new stage in this patient strategy. The developers of the protocol are in fact considering increasing the gas limit per block to 80 million, compared to 60 million today.
In brief
- Ethereum developers plan to raise gas limit per block from 60 million to 80 million after January 7 BPO update
- Two client-side optimizations are still required before the actual increase, including handling partial blob responses and implementing the “max blobs” flag.
A technical increase with very real effects
Ethereum developers are considering increasing the gas limit per block. Since November this limit had increased to 60 million. It will now be 80 million, and this comes into force from January 2026. This measure will be effective following the next major update of Blob Parameter Only (BPO), scheduled for January 7.
It would allow a greater number of transactions and smart contract executions to be included in each block. It is a continuation of the successive adjustments made in 2024, after several increases in the gas limit during the year.
However, this development remains conditional on the implementation of two technical optimizations on the client side. According to Barnabas Busa, an engineer at the Ethereum Foundation, partial blob responses on the execution layer as well as the “max blobs” indicator on the consensus layer must be finalized before any further effective increases.
Blobs play a key role here. These data structures, introduced recently, allow information related to rollups to be stored off-chain. This will result in reduced costs and better scalability, without excessively burdening the overall state of Ethereum.
Ethereum against Solana: another strategic bet
Even with 80 million gas per block, Ethereum won't compete head-on with blockchains like Solana or Sui when it comes to raw speed or ultra-low fees. And that's not really the goal.
Ethereum continues to bet on a different positioning. That of a highly secure, robust, and above all decentralized settlement and execution layer. Each increase in the gas limit is therefore a balancing act. Ethereum wants to gain performance without sacrificing validator diversity or excessively increasing hardware requirements.
This caution explains the progressive pace of increases observed in 2024. February, July, then November marked three successive increases, from 30 to 60 million. January could be the fourth stage of this controlled movement.
The increase to 80 million would only be an intermediate step. Within the Ethereum community, a goal is circulating more and more openly. Indeed, the said crypto wants to reach a gas limit of 180 million by the end of 2026.
While the rising star of web3 is in free fall among companies, its developers should confirm their schedule during the meeting scheduled for January 5. If the technical conditions are met, Ethereum could well start the year on a faster but still controlled note.
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