Ethereum Gears Up for Pectra Upgrade as Gas Limit Surges

Ethereum is gearing up for a major transformation, with Vitalik Buterin confirming that the highly anticipated Pectra upgrade is set to arrive in March.

The announcement comes amid a surge in the network’s gas limit, which has now surpassed 32 million—a milestone that signals growing capacity for transactions. At the same time, ETH has rebounded sharply to around $2,800 with a 7% gain in the past 24 hours.

The increase in gas limit reflects a shift in validator sentiment, with nearly half supporting the adjustment. If implemented, this would be the first modification since Ethereum transitioned to proof-of-stake, allowing for greater throughput while preserving decentralization.

Buterin also highlighted ongoing enhancements to Ethereum’s infrastructure. Developers are making progress on Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4444, which focuses on managing historical data, and a new binary tree model designed to push the network toward a stateless architecture. Additionally, work continues on optimizing client performance to handle higher gas limits without compromising decentralization.

One of the biggest changes Pectra will introduce is an upgrade to Layer 2 scaling. By increasing the blob target from three to six, Ethereum’s capacity for Layer 2 transactions will effectively double. Buterin has suggested that future adjustments be determined by stakers rather than waiting for hard forks, allowing for a more flexible and responsive upgrade process.