Key Takeaways
Vitalik Buterin proposes a 10X increase in Ethereum’s L1 gas limit.
A scaled L1 enhances security, facilitates L2 operations, and enables smooth asset transfers.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin advocates for a tenfold increase in the network’s L1 gas limit, emphasizing its importance even as L2 solutions gain prominence.
The proposal aims to enhance security and censorship resistance while enabling simpler application development on the network.
Buterin highlights concerns about potential censorship on L2s due to their centralized sequencers, arguing that a more scalable L1 would provide crucial force-inclusion mechanisms for users to bypass L2 censorship during network congestion.
A key focus of the scaling proposal addresses cross-L2 asset transfers, particularly for NFTs and less common assets.
The enhanced L1 capacity would serve as a safety mechanism for users in cases of L2 failure or hostile governance changes, allowing for mass exit events without prohibitive gas fees.
The scaling initiative also targets improved efficiency for ERC20 token launches on L1, which could mitigate risks associated with hostile governance upgrades on individual L2s.
Additionally, the proposal aims to simplify keystore wallet operations and facilitate their distribution across L2 networks.
Conclusion (as a table)
pic.twitter.com/9fBXcXJWxb
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 14, 2025
Buterin’s plan encompasses the economic viability of L2 proof submissions, suggesting that increased L1 capacity could make trustless cross-L2 interoperability more sustainable through frequent state updates.
The technical implementation faces challenges in maintaining security and decentralization while achieving the proposed scaling targets.
The proposal has sparked discussions within the Ethereum community about potential centralization risks due to increased hardware requirements for validators.
I have some questions, though @VitalikButerin.
While increasing L1 gas limits could improve censorship resistance and enable more efficient cross-L2 transactions, wouldn’t this come at the cost of greater centralization risks? Higher gas limits raise hardware requirements for…
https://t.co/RXuCsEE15v
— sri | srimisra.eth (@srikmisra) February 14, 2025
In May 2024, Vitalik Buterin pointed out the lack of unity in the Ethereum ecosystem’s Layer 2 expansion, advocating for better interoperability and integration in wallet interfaces.