7-7-2025 – Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and researcher Toni Wahrstätter have introduced EIP-7983, proposing a maximum gas limit of 16.77 million per individual transaction on the network. The proposal, published Sunday, would mark the first time Ethereum implements a per-transaction gas ceiling, as the network currently only enforces a roughly 36 million gas limit per block.
The new framework aims to strengthen Ethereum’s defenses against denial-of-service attacks while improving network stability and transaction cost predictability. Under the proposal, the 16.77 million cap would apply universally regardless of block gas limits set by miners or validators, with transactions exceeding this threshold being automatically rejected.
EIP-7983 addresses several network vulnerabilities, including inefficient load distribution and quadratic attacks that could compromise performance. The proposed limit would also enhance compatibility with zero-knowledge virtual machines and parallel execution systems. Despite being backward incompatible, the authors expect minimal disruption since current transactions typically consume significantly less gas than the proposed ceiling.
The gas cap would preserve functionality for complex operations including smart contract deployments and advanced DeFi protocols while establishing consistent performance boundaries across the network.