Vitalik Buterin has expressed intentions to significantly raise the Ethereum blockchain’s Layer 1 gas limit, proposing an increase of between 10 to 100 times its current capacity. Buterin’s comments were made in response to a recent demonstration by Succinct Labs, who showcased their full zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM) proof system capable of providing real-time proving for Ethereum’s execution layer.
In acknowledging the achievement by Succinct Labs co-founder Uma Roy and her team, Buterin recognized the project’s progress and considered it a remarkable step forward. However, he stressed that there are still important challenges that must be addressed before such real-time proof mechanisms could become widely deployed at the Layer 1 Ethereum level.
One key issue Buterin highlighted was the difference between “average-case timings,” used in Succinct Labs’ demonstration, and the “worst-case timings” needed to ensure such a mechanism is reliably secure for regular Ethereum users. He emphasized the need for thorough testing under worst-case scenarios.
Additionally, Buterin pointed out the need for formal verification of the real-time proofing software, which is currently lacking. Without formal verification, he believes Ethereum users would hesitate to trust an untested proving mechanism due to potential undiscovered bugs.
Another parameter for consideration identified by Buterin is the energy cost of running real-time proofs. He noted that during Succinct Labs’ demonstration, the real-time proving system consumed approximately 100 kilowatts of power, making it impractical and inaccessible for many individuals or smaller organizations. Buterin suggested a target of around 10 kilowatts to make the technology viable and widely adoptable.
Currently, Ethereum’s Layer 1 gas limit predominantly fluctuates near 36 million units. Should Buterin’s stated objective of increasing this limit by 10 to 100 times be achieved, Ethereum’s gas limit could potentially rise to between 360 million and 3.6 billion units. Raising the network’s gas limit significantly aims to provide the higher throughput needed to support sophisticated real-time proving systems without slowing down transaction speed or causing prohibitively high transaction fees.
Over the past year, Ethereum’s gas limit has increased by nearly 20%, growing from an average of approximately 30 million gas units in May 2024 to around 35.99 million today. Last February marked the first significant adjustment since 2021, raising the network’s gas limit to 32 million gas units, a move approved by over half of Ethereum validators without needing a hard fork.
An increased gas limit would facilitate broader adoption of advanced cryptographic mechanisms, such as zk-based real-time proofs, at Layer 1 of Ethereum. But achieving such a change requires overcoming technical hurdles regarding safety, performance, verification, and energy consumption to ensure the technology can be safely and widely adapted in practice.
