Vitalik Buterin hails Ethereum’s L1 scaling as +50% validators want…

• Buterin supports current Ethereum scaling efforts on L1 and L2s. 
• The majority of validators wanted the network gas limit to be increased to scale the base layer. 

Ethereum [ETH] has been heavily focused on scaling L2s. Especially after the 2024 Dencun upgrade, which introduced cheaper L2 transactions through blobs.

However, L2s have been blamed for ‘extracting value’ from base layer 1 as most demand shifted to cheaper L2 transactions. 

At the same time, Solana’s[SOL] relatively cheaper price and high scalability (especially with Firedancer) threaten to eat into Ethereum’s market share.

Over 50% of ETH validators want gas limit increase

Now, Ethereum teams are pushing for simultaneous scaling of L1 and L2s to remain competitive.

In fact, Ethereum educator Anthony Sossano noted that over 50% of validators want to increase the L1’s gas limit (number of transactions per block). 

He said, 

“Over 50% of the network is now signaling to increase the gas limit – we did it fam! Ethereum is scaling!” 

Source: Gas Limits

For context, increasing gas limits means more transactions can be included in a block. Simply put, more block capacity leads to more scalability. 

Interestingly, Consensys and Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, supported the L1 scaling efforts. Buterin stated, 

“L1 is scaling. A big shoutout to all the developers working on EIP-4444 (history expiry), statelessness , client efficiency upgrades, and other features that will make higher L1 gas limits decentralization-friendly.”

Besides, Buterin reiterated the blobs approach will double L2 scaling through the upcoming Pectra upgrade. He added, 

“Pectra, expected in March, will increase the blob target from 3 to 6, doubling the capacity of L2s. IMO we should make the blob target also staker-voted, so that it can increase in respose to technology improvements without waiting for hard forks.”

That said, the move could become a reality as a majority of validators (over 50%) are calling for a gas limit above 32 million. If this is implemented, Ethereum’s scalability efforts could be bolstered. 

Note, however, that despite the recent uptick in institutional interest, crypto analyst Joao Wedson noted that demand from pre-Merge players has dropped significantly.

In fact, he termed the Merge as the ‘worst thing’ for ETH. 

“The worst thing that happened to Ethereum was The Merge. Long-Term and Short-Term Holders stopped accumulating ETH since September 2022.

He continued,

Even Exchange addresses, former miners, and funds with over 100k ETH aren’t buying. A rough path awaits Ethereum.”

Source: Alphractal

Whether renewed scaling efforts for L1 and L2s will improve ETH’s market sentiment remains to be seen.