Ethereum gas limit may rise 3–5x next year; repricing EIP and Glamsterdam upgrade to cut ETH transfer costs
Ethereum’s per-block gas limit, recently raised from 45M to 60M, could increase threefold — and possibly up to fivefold — within the next year, according to advocate Anthony Sassano and comments from core developers. Sassano and Ben Adams co-authored an EIP that rebalances gas costs: cut native ETH transfer gas from ~21,000 to ~6,000 units while modestly raising gas for less efficient smart-contract operations. The repricing is intended to allow a much higher gas cap without proportional increases in resource use or fees for common transfers. Core developers including Ben Adams, Toni Wahrstätter and Vitalik Buterin have voiced support; testing on networks such as Hoodi and the Fusaka execution/data improvements are expected to enable higher throughput. The EIP is planned for inclusion in the Glamsterdam upgrade targeted for H1 2026 (per later reporting). Traders should monitor validator backing for higher limits, final EIP specifications, Fusaka/Glamsterdam rollout timing, and testnet results — since these moves can change on-chain throughput, gas fee dynamics, DeFi execution costs and short-term market sentiment. This is market information, not investment advice.
Bullish
Raising Ethereum’s gas limit while repricing transactions to lower costs for common ETH transfers is likely bullish for ETH price over both short and long horizons. Short-term: positive sentiment may follow successful testnet runs and validator support announcements, reducing transaction-cost pain points and encouraging more on-chain activity; however, immediate price moves could be muted or volatile around implementation milestones as traders price uncertainty (validator votes, EIP text, upgrade timing). Medium-to-long-term: higher usable throughput and cheaper native transfers improve network utility for retail payments, NFT trades and some DeFi flows, which can increase on-chain demand for ETH (for fees and staking/security), supporting higher valuations. Risks that could temper bullishness include delayed rollout, insufficient validator support, or repricing creating unexpected fee shifts that hurt certain DeFi activities. Overall, the net effect on ETH is constructive provided upgrades proceed as planned and tests confirm throughput and fee improvements.