Ethereum Proposes 16.77 million Gas Cap to Slash DoS Risks

- Aims to counter DoS attacks with a 16.77 million gas transaction cap. - EIP-7983 introduces per-transaction limits to enhance network stability and zkVM compatibility. On July 6, 2025, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and researcher Toni Wahrstätter unveiled EIP-7983, a proposal to cap gas consumption for individual transactions at 16.77 million. The move seeks to bolster Ethereum’s defenses against denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, improve network stability, and streamline transaction costs. According to reports on July 6 from outlets including Crypto News Australia, Binance, AInvest, CryptoSlate, and Blockmedia, the proposal sparked significant discussion across the crypto community. Under EIP-7983, the protocol will block any transaction exceeding the 16.77 million gas threshold. While Ethereum already enforces maximum gas limits on blocks, this would mark the first per-transaction restriction. The cap balances the need for complex transactions with predictable execution limits, ensuring no single transaction can monopolize an entire block’s capacity. The new limits will enhance Ethereum’s compatibility with zero-knowledge virtual machines (zkVMs) by breaking large-scale transactions into smaller, manageable operations. This approach encourages parallel execution, which in turn reduces network congestion and improves efficiency. Although the change is not backward compatible, it will not affect most Ethereum users and dApps, as their typical transactions already fall well within the proposed cap. However, larger DeFi contracts may require substantial adjustments to adapt to the protocol change. This proposal reflects Ethereum’s larger ambitions to simplify its core protocol while advancing operational security. Developers launched EIP-7983 on GitHub in late June, and it reached its finalized form by July 6. This signals Ethereum’s continued focus on long-term solutions for predictable and robust network functionality. As of July 7, 2025, at 08:09 UTC, Ethereum (ETH) was trading at $2,577.03. According to CoinMarketCap, this represents a 2.41% change in 24-hour trading volume.