Ethereum is preparing a new massive increase in its capacity. Crypto network developers now consider a limit of 200 million gas per block a credible goal after Glamsterdam. The mainnet curren
Ethereum is preparing a new massive increase in its capacity. Crypto network developers now consider a limit of 200 million gas per block a credible goal after Glamsterdam. The mainnet currently operates around 60 million. If this step is passed, Ethereum could therefore more than triple the available space to execute transactions and smart contracts.
Ethereum has already greatly increased its capacity in less than a year. The gas limit rose from 45 to 60 million at the end of 2025, a change already supported by more than 500,000 validators.
The next goal is much more ambitious. At a developers meetup in Svalbard, Ethereum teams considered that a floor of 200 million gas after Glamsterdam became technically credible. This level mainly results from three projects: ePBS, Block-Level Access Lists, and a new pricing for certain operations with EIP-8037.
Gas measures the amount of computation that an Ethereum block can accept. A higher limit thus allows more operations to be placed in each block.
60 million today. 200 million targeted next. However, the increase will not be automatically activated right at Glamsterdam. Validators will have to gradually adopt a higher limit, provided clients and infrastructure follow without degrading network stability. The Sepolia testnet will be an important first trial on October 6.
Your 1st cryptos with CoinbaseThis link uses an affiliate program.Tripling the gas limit looks simple on paper. The problem comes from what transactions leave behind. Every account, smart contract, and data stored permanently increases Ethereum’s state. Allowing much more execution without changing the costs of certain operations could accelerate this growth and make nodes heavier to operate.
Glamsterdam therefore must modify the gas price. EIP-8037 notably raises the cost of certain operations that create or use state. The goal is to charge more for the most costly activities for the network, while freeing capacity elsewhere.
Ethereum is also preparing the Block-Level Access Lists. They indicate in advance the accounts and storage locations that a block uses, which should facilitate parallel processing of some data.
The crypto network has long sought to increase its throughput without simply inflating blocks. Ethereum’s average fees have already dropped more than 85% this year, with an ETH transfer falling around 0.095 dollars in September. A 200 million limit would give even more space. Provided demand does not immediately fill this new capacity.
Before the 200 million, Ethereum must make Glamsterdam work properly. The upgrade combines several major changes. ePBS integrates the separation between block builders and proposers directly into the protocol. Block-Level Access Lists prepare more parallelization. The new gas rules must better reflect the real cost of operations.
Deployment on Sepolia is scheduled for October 6 at 13:53 UTC. Prysm and Teku clients still offer a default 60 million limit but already allow testnet validators to explicitly configure 200 million.
The mainnet will have to wait. Ethereum has not yet announced a definitive date for Glamsterdam activation on the main network. Developers are still testing before this deployment. The 200 million goal therefore remains a technical target, not a capacity already available. Nonetheless, Ethereum has come a long way since the 30 million gas that long constituted its standard. The network is now at 60 million and is already preparing the next step. For the crypto layer 1, the scale change is starting to get serious.
