Ethereum announces 2026 expansion plan: Gas limit may increase by 5 times, aligning with Solana

Ethereum has formulated further scaling plans for 2026 after completing the Pectra upgrade in 2025. Co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the block gas limit for Ethereum is expected to increase fivefold next year, achieving more “targeted rise” to enhance network throughput while keeping Layer 2 (L2) transaction costs low.

The gas limit is a key parameter that determines the number of transactions that can be processed in each block. Currently, the Ethereum gas limit per block is 60 million gas, which has doubled since the community first called for an increase a year ago. Raising the gas limit allows more transactions to be packed into blocks, but heavy and inefficient operations can increase costs, thereby preventing nodes from becoming overloaded with data storage.

The Pectra upgrade, which launched in early November this year, has significantly improved network performance, including enhanced validator activity, increased L2 scalability, and optimized wallet experience. The upcoming Fusaka upgrade will further raise the block gas limit and reduce node operating costs, thereby enhancing network capacity and lowering transaction costs. The targeted efficiency upgrade in 2026 is expected to bring more performance optimizations.

The core goal of Ethereum's active expansion is to maintain competitiveness with fast Layer-1 blockchains like Solana. Although Solana attracts small traders with ultra-low fees (around 0.0022 USD) and high transaction speeds, Ethereum has gained institutional trust through its decentralization and mature ecosystem. Over the past few years, Ethereum has significantly reduced transaction costs: the average transaction fee fell to around 5 USD in 2024, and by 2025, it is expected to drop below 1 USD through upgrades such as Pectra, currently at about 0.31 USD.

It is expected that with a series of expansion plans in 2026, Ethereum will continue to narrow the cost and speed gap with Solana, while maintaining its advantages in institutional and decentralized ecosystems, bringing substantial improvements to network throughput and transaction experience.