The London upgrade delayed Ethereum’s ice Age, Buterin pointed out.
In an analysis posted on Reddit, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin explained why the average daily gas used by the network rose from 92 billion to more than 100 billion by the time Ethereum rolled out the London upgrade. The 9% increase in daily gas use is different from changes in gas prices and indicates an improvement in overall grid capacity.
Buterin pointed to three main causes of the increase in Ethereum’s network capacity : 1) the delay of the Ice Age, 2) blocks not using the full capacity of 15M before London and 3) imperfections in the adjustment of base charges.
The Ethereum Ice Age refers to a phenomenon where the increasing complexity of the mining algorithm ultimately leads the Ethereum blockchain to become so difficult to mine that it stops creating blocks. Buterin believes that the launch of the London upgrade delayed the rapid arrival of the Ethereum Ice Age and brought the average blocking time of 13.5 seconds back to the long-term normal level of 13.1 seconds. This led to a 2-3% increase in overall network capacity.
Second, before the London upgrade, 15 million was the maximum gas that could be used per block. Many blocks did not use the full 15 million, as this left little space for a single transaction. This led to about 2% of the blocks being voluntarily left empty. However, after the upgrade, 15M became the target. « This means that if the average of gases used, including empty blocks, is less than 15M, the base fee will decrease until the average returns to 15M “, explained Buterin. This represents an additional 2-3% improvement in Ethereum’s capacity.
Finally, Buterin pointed out that EIP-1559, introduced as part of the London upgrade, presents a complex relationship between arithmetic and geometric means for the size of a block and its costs. Because of this, it is not entirely accurate in the combustion of 50% of the gas costs. Thus, this error leads to a slight increase in capacity, since the blocks on average are now filled a little more than 50%, said the co-founder of Ethereum.
“But for now, Ethereum users can look forward to the unintended 6% increase in capacity brought by London “Buterin concluded.
The London upgrade was rolled out on August 5, 2021. It is expected to significantly improve the way transactions are carried out on the Ethereum network by affecting both the remuneration of miners and the supply of ETH tokens.
