A new Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-7781) has been introduced, suggesting a reduction of the blockchain’s slot time from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. Slot time is the interval at which new blocks are proposed on the Ethereum network. By shortening this interval, the network would produce more blocks more frequently, thereby enhancing its overall efficiency.
The proposal, put forward by researcher Ben Adams, aims to reduce latency for rollups—Layer 2 scaling solutions that utilize Ethereum’s sequencing capabilities—while increasing transaction throughput by approximately 33%. This approach is similar to raising the gas limit per block from 30 million to 40 million or expanding blob capacity from 6 to 8. However, EIP-7781 aims to achieve these benefits without increasing the peak bandwidth requirements that could strain network resources.
If adopted, this proposal would focus on reducing the slot time rather than altering the gas limit per block or blob capacity. As the size of each block remains unchanged, the peak bandwidth—the maximum data transfer rate at any given time—would not increase.
EIP-7781 is currently under preliminary review and discussion as part of Ethereum’s ongoing efforts to enhance network scalability.
