Ethereum Raises Gas Limit to 60M Ahead of Fusaka — L2 Throughput Surges
Ethereum increased its block gas limit from 45 million to 60 million on November 25 after approval from a majority of validators. The protocol change — enabled by EIP-7623, client optimizations (Geth, Nethermind, Besu, etc.), and extended testnet trials — boosts base-layer transaction capacity, reducing peak congestion and giving rollups more headroom. Vitalik Buterin emphasized this is part of targeted scaling: larger effective blocks combined with higher gas costs for specific heavy operations rather than blind block growth. The upgrade coincides with record rollup throughput — the combined rollup ecosystem reportedly processed ~31,000 TPS in 24 hours, led by Lighter (~5,455 TPS) and contributions from Base. The change comes days before the Fusaka hard fork (targeted Dec 3), which introduces PeerDAS for improved data availability sampling and other client and consensus refinements aimed at smoothing L2 block publication. For traders, the move signals increased base-layer capacity and coordinated infrastructure readiness for rollup-driven growth, with implications for fee dynamics, throughput-related liquidity flows, and risk assumptions around network stability.
Bullish
Raising the gas limit to 60M while rolling out client hardening and EIP-7623 reduces immediate congestion risk and signals coordinated capacity planning. Coupled with record rollup throughput (~31,000 TPS) and the imminent Fusaka upgrade (PeerDAS) that improves data availability for rollups, the ecosystem is better positioned to handle higher on-chain activity and L2 growth. For traders this typically supports a bullish outlook: lower fees and smoother execution can attract volume, increase DeFi and exchange activity, and reduce short-term sell pressure tied to network stress. Historically, infrastructure upgrades that increase throughput and reliability (e.g., past Ethereum client optimizations, major L2 launches) have correlated with improved on-chain activity and positive sentiment for ETH and associated L2 tokens. Short-term, expect potential reduced fee spikes and rotation into higher-volume DeFi strategies; volatility may temporarily increase around Fusaka deployment. Long-term, improved L1-L2 interplay supports higher throughput and usage, which can be constructive for ETH demand and L2 token fundamentals.