Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is promoting a new mechanism to mitigate sudden spikes in transaction costs on the network.
His latest proposal outlines a trustless, on-chain prediction market designed to help users secure future gas prices and control rather than react to fluctuations.
Buterin supports Ethereum gas price market
On December 6th, Buterin argued that Ethereum needs market-based signals to predict future demand for block space.
This structure would exchange exposure to the network’s base rate by allowing participants to buy and sell gas commitments associated with future slots.
The goal, he said, is to give developers and heavy users a way to lock in costs and plan even when spot gas prices remain low.
The proposal comes at an unusual time, with gas prices near multi-year lows.
According to EtherScan data, the average gas price for Ethereum is about 0.468 Gwei, or about 3 cents. This is because much of the network’s retail activity is moving to cheaper layer 2 networks such as Base and Arbitrum.
Average Ethereum gas price over the past 30 days. Source: Etherscan
But Buterin argues that the current calm breeds complacency.
He emphasizes that the on-chain futures curve will provide a clear signal of long-term market expectations. This allows users to prepay for block space and lock in costs regardless of future spikes.
“People will be able to clearly see what their expectations are for future gas prices, and they will also be able to hedge future gas prices, effectively pre-paying for a specific amount of gas for a specific period of time,” he said.
Industry experts weigh in
Supporters consider this proposal an undervalued pillar of Ethereum’s long-term design. They argue that the trustless gas futures market will fill a structural gap rather than introducing a new DeFi novelty.
In their view, the BASEFEE market will provide transparent pricing and alignment of expectations, providing the ecosystem with a common reference point for future network conditions.
A fluid market for gas exposure could therefore change this dynamic by allowing developers to purchase gas insurance to limit operating costs before a significant event. Heavy users can also offset future price increases by taking a reverse market position.
“If Ethereum is becoming the payment layer for everything, then gas itself becomes a financial asset. So a trustless gas futures market is not a nice-to-have. “It feels like a natural evolution for a chain aiming to collaborate globally,” the analyst said.
On the other hand, one of Titan Builder’s industry advisors pointed out that it would be difficult to operate this as a classic derivatives market, as validators could generate empty blocks and manipulate the results.
He added that a block space delivery futures market with a liquid secondary venue remains viable. Such a structure may be sufficient to support public price discovery and hedging.
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