Ethereum Proposes Transaction Gas Limits with EIP-7983
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has co-authored EIP-7983, a technical proposal aimed at introducing individual transaction gas limits on the Ethereum blockchain.
Key Points:
- Purpose: The proposal seeks to impose a computational work restriction (gas limit) per transaction. This aims to improve network stability and bolster security.
- Security: By preventing excessively large computations, EIP-7983 aims to mitigate denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and guard against "quadratic attacks."
- Scalability & zk-SNARKs: The recommended gas limit of 16,777,216 units for transactions is designed to split large computations into smaller chunks. This facilitates greater adoption of zk-SNARKs (Zero-Knowledge proof systems) and the execution of complex zkVMs (Zero-Knowledge Virtual Machines) by making their design more predictable. As noted by prominent researcher Evan Van Ness, this aligns with Ethereum’s long-term goal of integrating advanced cryptography for better scalability and privacy.
- Network Impact: Currently, Ethereum imposes a block gas limit (around 36 million) but no individual transaction limit. The proposal states the 16.8 million gas limit is safe to implement.
By establishing a baseline for transaction size, EIP-7983 provides a layer of additional security against potential network abuse formats.
