Ethereum Could Hit 2,000 Transactions per Second Under New Proposal

Ethereum’s scalability may be about to take a giant leap forward. A new Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) from Ethereum Foundation researcher Dankrad Feist could boost the mainnet’s transaction capacity to 2,000 transactions per second (TPS). 

The proposal, EIP-9698, outlines a predictable method for expanding the network’s gas limit, offering fresh hope for Ethereum’s long-term competitiveness.

EIP-9698: A Roadmap for Sustainable Growth

Feist introduced EIP-9698 on April 27. The proposal recommends a "deterministic gas limit growth schedule" starting at epoch 369017, expected around June 1. Instead of sudden increases, the gas limit would grow gradually by a factor of 10 over about two years, ending with one final tenfold boost.

This steady rise would give node operators and developers time to adapt to the changing network demands. According to Feist, this method aligns with anticipated improvements in hardware and Ethereum’s protocol efficiency. He emphasized that it would foster a sustainable and transparent path forward for Ethereum’s base layer.

Ethereum clients would need to vote for the proposal before it can be activated. If approved, it could reshape Ethereum’s future, positioning it to handle far higher transaction volumes without relying solely on Layer 2 solutions.

Scaling Ethereum’s Mainnet to New Heights

Today, Ethereum can process around 20 TPS during periods dominated by simple transactions. If the gas limit were raised 100-fold, as Feist’s proposal suggests, Ethereum could theoretically reach 2,000 TPS. This performance level would make Ethereum far more competitive with high-throughput blockchains like Solana, which handles between 800 and 1,050 non-vote TPS and boasts a theoretical maximum of 65,000 TPS.

Under the proposal, Ethereum’s current gas limit of 36 million would expand to 3.6 billion. In practice, this could allow about 6,000 transactions to fit within each block—an extraordinary increase compared to today’s capabilities, per CoinTelegraph.

This vision comes on the heels of a February decision where Ethereum validators agreed to lift the gas limit from 30 million to 36 million. Prior to that, Ethereum's London hard fork in August 2021 doubled the gas limit from 15 million to 30 million.

Challenges on the Road to 2,000 TPS

While the proposal promises significant improvements, it also introduces new challenges. Feist acknowledged that rapidly scaling the gas limit could put pressure on less-optimized nodes and extend block propagation times. However, the gradual, exponential growth plan is designed to give node operators ample opportunity to prepare.

EIP-9698 represents the latest in Ethereum’s ongoing efforts to scale at the base layer. In recent years, much of Ethereum’s scalability work has shifted toward Layer 2 solutions. However, critics argue that an overreliance on Layer 2s fragments the ecosystem, hurting user experience and creating isolated chains with limited interoperability.

By focusing once again on the mainnet, EIP-9698 aims to enhance scalability without sacrificing the cohesion that made Ethereum the leading smart contract platform.

The Ethereum developer community is also pursuing additional initiatives to increase scalability. EIP-9678, part of the planned Fusaka hard fork, proposes a fourfold increase in Ethereum’s gas limit. Fusaka could go live as early as late 2025, offering another major capacity boost.

Meanwhile, the next big Ethereum upgrade, Pectra, is scheduled to launch in May. Pectra will deliver other enhancements but is not focused on increasing TPS as directly as EIP-9698 or EIP-9678.

Broader Developments: Grayscale Pushes for ETH Staking in the U.S.

While Ethereum’s developers are working to scale the network, institutional players are pushing regulatory boundaries. Representatives from Grayscale Investments recently met with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force to advocate for allowing Ethereum exchange-traded products (ETPs) to engage in staking.

In the meeting, Grayscale outlined its request to amend filings for its Ethereum Trust and Ethereum Mini Trust, aiming to permit staking activities. Grayscale argued that U.S.-based ETH ETPs have already missed out on about $61 million in staking rewards, a gap that hurts both shareholders and network participation.

Craig Salm, Grayscale’s chief legal officer, stressed that staking would not only provide returns for investors but also enhance the security and efficiency of the Ethereum blockchain.

Grayscale’s memorandum explained that allowing ETH ETPs to stake would ensure U.S. firms can compete with their non-U.S. counterparts that already engage in staking activities.