One of the founders of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, along with core developer Toni Wahrstätter, has proposed an important technical proposal designed to enhance the long-term stability and security of the network. This proposal, named EIP-7983, aims to establish a maximum gas usage cap per transaction at the protocol level.
The proposal submitted as a draft in the Ethereum GitHub repository in early July 2025 suggests a maximum gas usage limit for each transaction of 16,777,216 (or 2²⁴) gas. This step, although technical in nature, has significant implications for the health and efficiency of the entire Ethereum ecosystem.
Three Main Pillars of EIP-7983
According to the proposal document, the introduction of this maximum gas limit is based on three interconnected main objectives:
Mitigating DoS (Denial-of-Service) Attack Risks: Currently, theoretically, a transaction can be designed to be extremely computationally intensive, approaching the block gas limit. If a malicious actor sends such a transaction, they can effectively 'clog' block processing, significantly slowing down the network, and making it difficult for validators to process other transactions. With EIP-7983, the potential for such attacks can be mitigated as no single transaction is allowed to monopolize computational resources within a block.
Improving Network Stability: With a clear upper limit in place, network performance becomes more consistent. Validators can process blocks more efficiently because they will not encounter unexpected 'monster' transactions that consume excessive time and resources. This leads to more stable and reliable block production across the network.
Increasing Cost and Process Predictability: For users and decentralized application (dApp) developers, this limit brings better predictability. Digital wallets and applications can estimate transaction costs (gas fees) more accurately, as they know the upper computational limit that might occur. This reduces the likelihood of transaction failures due to underestimated gas for extreme scenarios.
Expert Analysis: A Pragmatic Step Towards a More Mature Ethereum
From a technical standpoint, this proposal is a smart and proactive 'maintenance' step. Most transactions on Ethereum currently use gas well below the proposed limit. The average ETH transfer transaction only requires 21,000 gas, while interactions with complex smart contracts rarely exceed a few million gas.
"This is not a change that ordinary users will feel directly in their daily activities," said an independent blockchain analyst.
"However, this is a fundamental reinforcement of the Ethereum infrastructure. Think of it like installing a safety fuse in the main electrical circuit of a building. You may never see it work, but its presence is crucial to prevent disaster."
The step initiated by Vitalik Buterin indicates a continued shift in focus toward strengthening Ethereum's base layer (Layer 1). As Layer 2 scaling solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism evolve, ensuring Layer 1 remains robust, secure, and predictable becomes a top priority.
The EIP-7983 proposal is currently still in draft stage and will undergo a series of discussions and reviews by the Ethereum core developer community. If approved, this proposal is likely to be implemented in one of the future network updates (hard forks).
