Now, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum Foundation researcher Toni Wahrstätter have joined together to propose a new Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP). Their intention is to limit gas per operation to a fixed amount. The new proposal, EIP 7983, seeks to place a max limit on gas used. If successful, it would cap any given transaction on the Ethereum network to a maximum of 16.77 million gas. This effort is focused on making complex transactions possible—including improving interoperability with zero-knowledge virtual machines (zkVMs). It’s dedicated to minimizing potential security threats. EIP 7983 will drop any transactions that go over the 16.77 million gas cap. This holds true no matter how high the block gas limit miners or validators choose to set.

This new proposal is an iteration on EIP 7825, which we introduced last November. That wise proposal has drifted into limbo since then. Additionally, Buterin and Wahrstätter agree that the gas limit will have little-to-no impact on most consumers or decentralized applications (dApps). Today, the average Ethereum transaction is much lower than that cut-off figure.

Rationale Behind the Gas Limit

The primary motivations behind EIP 7983 are threefold: enhancing security, improving zkVM compatibility, and ensuring network stability. The proposal limits gas consumption on a per-transaction basis. This serves to mitigate the threat of single transaction Denial of Service (DoS) attacks.

By implementing this limit, Ethereum can enhance its resilience against certain DoS [Denial of Service attack] vectors, improve network stability, and provide more predictability to transaction processing costs. - Vitalik Buterin and Toni Wahrstätter

Reducing gas usage makes it much harder for malicious actors to capitalize on the vulnerabilities that can destabilize the network.

The gas cap will go a long way to improving compatibility with zkVMs. These virtual machines are increasingly becoming the engines for powering Ethereum’s many scalability and privacy solutions. This spec limit will lead to more predictable zkVM circuit designs.

allows better participation in distributed proving systems, and enables more predictable zkVM circuit design - Vitalik Buterin and Toni Wahrstätter

Impact on Users and dApps

As Buterin and Wahrstätter mentioned in their post, this proposal EIP 7983 will have a negative impact on the vast majority of Ethereum users and dApps. The proposed 16.77 million gas limit comfortably accommodates almost any typical transaction. This is important because it tracks the full spectrum of Ethereum user activity, from contract deployments to decentralized finance (DeFi) interactions.

This value enables most current use cases, including contract deployments and advanced DeFi interactions, while ensuring consistent performance characteristics. - Vitalik Buterin and Toni Wahrstätter

For context, most existing transactions on Ethereum are under the proposed new limit of 16.77 million gas.

Comparison to EIP 7825

EIP 7983 is a refined version of the previously created EIP 7825. This refinement allows for a significantly higher gas limit of about 30 million gas. This major reduction in the originally proposed new limit indicates a more prudent path forward focused on network security and zkVM compatibility. The current proposal caps per-transaction gas consumption at 16.77 million. This cap is now all of the 30 million natural gas limit proposed in EIP 7825. EIP 7825 has languished in the Ethereum standards repository. EIP 7983 aims to address the same issues with a more measured and focused approach.