Ethereum Raises Block Gas Limit to 60 Million Ahead of Fusaka Upgrade to Boost Throughput

Ethereum’s network has increased its block gas limit from 45 million to 60 million, expanding capacity for transactions and smart-contract execution. The move — the result of community pressure and developer coordination — comes days before Fusaka is scheduled to go live, and is expected to significantly improve throughput, ease congestion, and help scale both layer-1 and layer-2 (rollup) activity.

Ethereum Raises Block Gas Limit to 60 Million Ahead of Fusaka Upgrade to Boost Throughput

Market & Network Context

Ethereum has faced rising demand for block space as decentralized-finance (DeFi), non-fungible token (NFT), and layer-2 rollups expand. Congestion and high gas fees have periodically plagued the network. The decision to raise the block gas limit reflects a broader push to scale the blockchain’s base layer — allowing more transactions per block and supporting growth without sacrificing decentralization. The increase is part of a coordinated roadmap culminating in the Fusaka upgrade. 


Technical Details & Attribution

  • The increase to 60 million gas units per block is implemented via EIP-7935, which updates the default block gas limit. 
  • This change enables each block to carry more computation—allowing more complex smart-contract calls, larger layer-2 rollup batch submissions, and higher throughput without longer block times. 
  • To preserve network safety and decentralization, several protective upgrades accompany the gas bump: per-transaction and per-block size caps, optimized gas cost pricing for heavy operations (like large cryptographic proofs), and the introduction of Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS) to handle data-availability more efficiently. 
  • Tests across multiple Ethereum clients indicate they can handle the higher gas load without compromising block propagation or decentralization—paving the way for a safe, sustainable increase in throughput. 

Analyst Perspectives & Implications

  • Scaling advantage: Many analysts believe this gas-limit increase marks a turning point — Ethereum may now better accommodate growing demand from DeFi protocols, layer-2 rollups, and high-volume dApps, making it more competitive with high-throughput chains.
  • Fee pressure relief: Higher block capacity should help ease congestion during peak times, potentially stabilizing or reducing gas fees — a welcome change for developers and users alike.
  • Layer-2 acceleration: The increase benefits rollups and layer-2 solutions especially, as they rely on efficient batch submission to Ethereum’s base layer. More block space and better data-availability handling means smoother scaling for these systems.
  • Node-operator caution: Some in the community caution that increased gas limits can raise resource demands for node operators — more data per block means heavier storage and bandwidth requirements; smaller validators must be ready for that challenge.

Global Impact & Significance

The upgrade strengthens Ethereum’s position as a robust, scalable base layer — which may support broader global adoption of decentralized finance, NFTs, and Web3 applications. With improved capacity and throughput, Ethereum could attract more institutional and enterprise use, help reduce transaction fees for developers and users worldwide, and foster growth in layer-2 ecosystems.

At the same time, the move shows how blockchain platforms can evolve — balancing scalability, security and decentralization — which might influence how other networks design their upgrades or compete on throughput and usability.