Vitalik Buterin has argued that increasing Ethereum’s L1 gas capacity is necessary to support transaction inclusion and application development when most activity occurs on L2. In a new blog post, Buterin outlined calculations suggesting that a roughly 10× expansion in L1 capacity would preserve key network functions even as applications migrate to Layer 2 solutions.
The gas limitation is defined as the amount of computation work which can be done in one single block. It sets a limit on transactions and operations. Increasing the gas limit expands the protocol’s capacity to process more computational work per block, allowing it to handle a higher volume of transactions and more complex operations while influencing fee dynamics.
Recently, the gas cap was increased by 20 percent
Buterin’s analysis builds on the recent increase in the L1 gas limit from 30 million to 36 million, which raises capacity by 20%.
Buterin stated that future increases in efficiency, resulting from EIP 4444’s reduced storage of history, as well as the eventual adoption stateless clients could provide long-term advantages. In his discussion, Buterin frames the scaling debate by comparing gas requirements with ideal scenarios for several different use cases.
Buterin stated that censorship resistence remains an important function. He demonstrated that bypass transactions—designed to overcome potential censorship on L2—could cost approximately $4.50 at current gas prices. By scaling L1 capacity by roughly 4.5×, these costs could be driven down, ensuring that valid transactions reach the blockchain promptly even under congestion. Cross-L2 assets, such as transfers of large-volume assets or NFTs incur near-$14 per transaction.
Buterin’s estimates suggest that with improved design and a scaling factor of about 5.5× to 6×, such transactions might be executed at a fraction of that cost, potentially as low as $0.28 in an ideal setup.
Mass departures from L2s
Buterin’s analysis extends to scenarios involving mass exits from L2. An exit refers to the operation by which users withdraw their assets from a Layer 2 solution back to Ethereum’s main chain (L1), typically to safeguard funds during network disruptions or other emergencies.
He estimated that, under the current parameters, an entry requiring 120,00 gas per user could allow 7.56 to 32.4 millions users to leave over a period of one week to 30 days, depending on roll-up designs. With optimized protocols—reducing the cost per exit operation to approximately 7,500 gas—the number of users able to exit safely could increase substantially, supporting millions more and reducing the risk of liquidity or security issues during periods of network stress.
Buterin noted that many ERC20 Tokens were launched on the L2 platform. But tokens that are issued under L2 could be at risk if there is a hostile governance update. This can be mitigated when launching them on L1. The Railgun token was one example he cited, with a cost of over 1.6m gas.
Even if these costs were reduced to around 120,000 gas, the expense per issuance remains near $4.50, implying that a scaling factor up to 18× could be required for more widespread, cost-effective token launches that meet lower target fees.
This discussion included keystore wallets. Buterin estimated that for widespread key updates—assuming 50,000 gas per operation—a 3.3× increase in gas capacity might be needed, though efficiency gains reducing the cost to around 7,500 gas per operation could lower this requirement to nearly 1.1×.
The cost of frequent L2 submissions is also a major factor in limiting the number L2s. With advanced aggregation protocols potentially lowering per-submission costs to about 10,000 gas, a scaling factor of roughly 10× would be needed to make regular L2-to-L1 updates economically viable.
Buterin’s calculations highlight that despite most activity shifting to L2, maintaining robust L1 functionality is essential to preserve censorship resistance, enable efficient asset transfers, support mass exits, safeguard token issuance, and facilitate interoperability.
Buterin concluded that increasing the capacity of L1 gas offers value, as it allows fundamental operations to remain accessible and secure even when network usage patterns are changing.
His analysis frames a clear argument for near-term scaling measures that could safeguard Ethereum’s core functions regardless of the long-term balance between L1 and L2 activity.
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