Vitalik Buterin Proposes Gas Fee Futures for Stable Ethereum Costs

He proposed creating an on-chain futures market for gas, which would allow people to set transaction costs in advance rather than face unpredictable spikes.

Buterin stated in a post on X that Ethereum could use a "good trustless on-chain gas futures market". He mentioned that many users have asked whether Ethereum’s current efforts to lower gas fees can keep costs stable as the network continues to grow.

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His idea centers on allowing people to lock in gas prices for future use. For instance, users could pay now for gas that they plan to use later, similar to how traditional futures contracts work.

In those markets, buyers and sellers agree on a price for goods, such as oil, to be exchanged at a later date. This helps investors plan and gives producers protection against sudden price changes.

Applied to Ethereum, this approach would let users buy gas at a fixed rate for a specific time window. If fees later rise because of high network activity, users who prepaid would avoid paying more.

The system would also make it easier to understand what people expect future gas fees to be.

Recently, Ethereum developer Artem Chystiakov proposed the Zero Knowledge Secret Santa (ZKSS) protocol. What is it? Read the full story.