Ethereum EIP-9698 Introduces a Deterministic Gas Limit Growth Model, Aiming to Increase TPS by 100 Times Over Four Years

Ethereum (ETH) researcher Dankrad Feist has proposed Ethereum EIP-9698, which aims to scale the network by increasing the Ethereum gas limit by 100 times over four years. If implemented, this proposal could potentially raise Ethereum’s capacity to 2,000 transactions per second (TPS).

Currently, Ethereum processes around 14-20 TPS with a 36 million gas limit, according to YCharts. The network’s theoretical maximum stands near 119 TPS. In contrast, Solana processes 800 to over 1,000 TPS, with a theoretical capacity of 65,000 TPS.

The Ethereum EIP-9698 plan suggests expanding the Ethereum gas limit to 3.6 billion, allowing approximately 6,000 transactions per block. This expansion would commence from epoch 369017, anticipated around June 1, 2025.

How the Ethereum Gas Limit Expansion Works in EIP-9698

This proposal introduces a deterministic gas limit growth model, where Ethereum clients would automatically vote to increase the gas limit unless manually adjusted. This model sets a schedule for exponential gas limit increments at every beacon chain epoch.

The gas limit would grow by a factor of 10 approximately every 164,250 epochs, which equals about two years. Over four years, the model would achieve a 100-fold gas limit expansion, bringing Ethereum TPS 2000 closer to reality.

"The current gas limit mechanism relies on miner/operator voting, which lacks coordination and predictability. By introducing a predictable exponential growth pattern as a client default, this EIP encourages a sustainable and transparent gas limit trajectory, aligned with expected advancements in hardware and protocol efficiency," stated Feist.

This shift would make gas limit adjustments more systematic compared to the current operator-led voting, which Feist noted often results in stagnation or slow changes.

Backward Compatibility and Node Security for Ethereum EIP-9698

Ethereum EIP-9698 is a non-consensus change and maintains full backward compatibility. Nodes that do not adopt the new default behavior will continue operating normally. Clients can still manually adjust settings if preferred.

Feist addressed concerns about network security, highlighting that sudden gas limit increases could strain less-optimized nodes and slow block propagation. However, the gradual schedule is designed to give developers and operators time to adapt.

"The exponential schedule with very gradual increments per epoch gives node operators and developers ample time to adapt and optimize," he added.

This cautious growth pattern aims to support scaling without exposing the network to unnecessary risks.

The discussion around Ethereum EIP-9698 comes as the Pectra upgrade, set to go live next week, focuses on enhancing throughput, reducing Layer 1 transaction fees, and increasing validator flexibility. It also improves data storage efficiency, aiming to make Layer 2 scaling solutions more effective. These changes complement efforts like Ethereum EIP-9698, which target higher throughput upgrades on the mainnet.

At the same time, Ethereum developers are exploring structural improvements, including a separate discussion proposing to replace Ethereum’s EVM with RISC-V architecture for long-term scalability.