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EIP-3756

Gas Limit Cap

Set an in-protocol cap for the gas limit
StagnantStandards Track: Core
Created: 2021-08-21
lightclient (@lightclient)
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1 min read

EIP-3756, titled "Gas Limit Cap," proposes setting an in-protocol cap for the gas limit of 30,000,000. The motivation behind this proposal is that a high gas limit increases pressure on the network. In a benign case, it accelerates the growth of the state and history faster than can be sustained. In a malicious case, it amplifies the damage of certain denial-of-service attacks. The proposal specifies that as of the fork block N, blocks with a gas_limit greater than 30,000,000 should be considered invalid. The rationale behind capping the gas limit is that the gas limit is currently under the control of block proposers, who have the ability to increase the gas limit to any value they desire. This allows them to bypass the EIP and All Core Devs processes in protocol decisions that may negatively affect the security and/or decentralization of the network. However, the proposal maintains the ability of proposers to lower the gas limit below 30,000,000, as a valuable property of proposers choosing the gas limit is their ability to scale it down quickly if the network becomes unstable or is undergoing certain types of attacks. The document mentions that there are no known backward compatibility issues or security considerations associated with this proposal.

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Abstract

Set an in-protocol cap for the gas limit of 30,000,000.

Motivation

A high gas limit increases pressure on the network. In the benign case, it increases the size of the state and history faster than we can sustain. In the malicious case, it amplifies the devastation of certain denial-of-service attacks.

Specification

As of the fork block N, consider blocks with a gas_limit greater than 30,000,000 invalid.

Rationale

Why Cap the Gas Limit

The gas limit is currently under the control of block proposers. They have the ability to increase the gas limit to whatever value they desire. This allows them to bypass the EIP and All Core Devs processes in protocol decisions that may negatively affect the security and/or decentralization of the network.

No Fixed Gas Limit

A valuable property of proposers choosing the gas limit is they can scale it down quickly if the network becomes unstable or is undergoing certain types of attacks. For this reason, we maintain their ability to lower the gas limit below 30,000,000.

Backwards Compatibility

No backwards compatibility issues.

Test Cases

TBD

Security Considerations

No security considerations.

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.

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