Interpreting EIP-7983: Can it solve Ethereum’s resource allocation problem?

By ChandlerZ, Foresight News

Against the backdrop of uneven execution efficiency and resource scheduling pressure faced by the Ethereum mainnet, the EIP-7983 proposal proposed by Vitalik Buterin and Toni Wahrstaetter has entered the community discussion stage. The proposal advocates setting a hard gas limit of 16,777,216 gas (i.e. 2²⁴) for each transaction to improve network stability and execution efficiency.

This idea has been explored in proposals such as EIP-7825, where developers try to introduce resource boundaries to lay the foundation for the modular development and performance optimization of Ethereum.

What is EIP-7983?

Currently, Ethereum allows a single transaction to theoretically use the gas of the entire block. Although this design is flexible, it may cause problems such as resource concentration and uneven node load during transaction execution, affecting overall performance. EIP-7983 aims to limit the maximum gas usage of a single transaction to prevent a single transaction from occupying too many network resources. After setting a hard cap of 16,777,216 gas, transactions that exceed this limit will be rejected during block verification.

The core idea of this proposal is to set an upper limit to force some super-large transactions to be split, so as to avoid a single transaction taking up too many resources. This limit will not change the total gas capacity of the block, does not involve the modification of consensus rules, and only introduces a restriction in the transaction execution process. Based on this, if the transaction exceeds this upper limit before entering the block, it will be rejected during the verification stage.

For execution environments that rely on parallel computing, such as zero-knowledge virtual machines (zkVM) and future multi-threaded execution models, this restriction helps prevent extreme transactions from slowing down the entire block processing process. In the execution layer logic, this restriction is closer to a "resource usage specification", which allows each transaction to be divided more evenly while keeping the total amount unchanged, facilitating overall network scheduling and execution.

The actual effects and potential problems of EIP-7983

By setting a gas limit for a single transaction, the EIP-7983 proposal hopes to reduce the risk of denial of service (DoS) caused by extreme transactions, while improving the predictability of the overall execution process. For the operating environment, this restriction helps to simplify the validator execution logic and alleviate the pressure caused by concentrated resource consumption.

This proposal is consistent with the modular architecture, zkVM integration and L2 expansion path that Ethereum is promoting. Since large transactions are forced to split, this design is expected to improve the adaptability of Ethereum's underlying layer to parallel processing and further provide support for multi-layer computing architecture. From an implementation perspective, EIP-7983 does not involve changes to consensus rules or protocol layers. The main impact is that clients, wallets, and development tools need to update transaction structures and interface display methods to adapt to the new restriction logic.

The constraints of the proposal at the execution layer have sparked some discussion. Some advanced applications such as contract deployment and complex DeFi operations may require additional split transactions, which will lead to increased complexity of user interaction. In addition, the differences in the display and processing of gas on different platforms may lead to understanding costs and inconsistent use in the early stages. More importantly, the denial of service attacks addressed by the proposal mainly occur during the transaction execution phase and have no direct relationship with the attack behavior of using high-gas transactions in the memory pool for sorting manipulation. Therefore, it is more inclined to limit node-side resource overload rather than targeting all forms of network attacks.

Overall, EIP-7983 has certain practical significance in improving node execution stability and providing support for future parallel architectures, but its constraints are limited and it still needs to be combined with other mechanisms to deal with broad network security issues.

summary

There are different opinions in the community about EIP-7983. Supporters believe that setting a transaction gas limit is in line with the direction of Ethereum's simple, secure and modular development, and will help improve network performance and user experience, especially as zkVM and L2 solutions gradually mature. Opponents focus on the complexity and compatibility risks brought about by transaction splitting, and point out that network problems are more due to smart contract design rather than transaction gas limits.

EIP-7983 reflects the community's concern about network stability and execution efficiency. The proposal has challenges and disagreements, but it provides a possible solution for the execution and scalability of Ethereum's base layer. Considering Ethereum's current multi-level expansion and modular development direction, EIP-7983 has certain practical value, but its ultimate effect needs to be evaluated based on community adoption and implementation results.

Reference: https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/pull/9984/files