Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposes a new mechanism to reduce sudden spikes in transaction costs on the network.
His latest proposal concerns a trustless, chain-based prediction market to help users hedge future gas costs and manage volatility instead of merely reacting to it.
Buterin supports the Ethereum gas price market
On December 6, Buterin pointed out that Ethereum needs a market-based signal for future demand for block space.
The structure would handle exposure to the network's base fee by allowing participants to buy or sell gas commitments linked to a future time window.
According to him, the goal is to provide developers and heavy users an opportunity to lock in costs and plan even when the current gas price is low.
The proposal comes at an unusual time, as gas costs are near several years' lows.
Etherscan data shows that Ethereum's average gas price is about 0.468 Gwei, or roughly three cents. This is because much of the network's retail has shifted to cheaper Layer 2 networks like Base and Arbitrum.
Still, Buterin claims that the current calm leads to overconfidence.
He emphasizes that a future curve on the chain would provide a clear signal about long-term market expectations. It would allow users to prepay for block space and lock in costs regardless of future increases.
“People would get a clear signal about expectations for future gas fees, and could even hedge against future gas prices by effectively prepaying for any specific amount of gas during a specific time interval,” he said.
Industry experts Share Their Opinions
Supporters see the proposal as an underrated part of Ethereum's long-term design. They argue that a trustless gas futures market would fill a structural gap instead of introducing yet another DeFi novelty.
According to them, a BASEFEE market would adjust expectations with transparent pricing and provide the ecosystem a common reference point for future network conditions.
Thus, a liquid market for gas exposure could change this dynamic by allowing developers to purchase gas insurance to keep operational costs down ahead of significant events. Heavy users could also counter future fee spikes by taking an opposite market position.
“If Ethereum becomes the settlement 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 for global coordination,” said the analyst.
At the same time, an advisor at Titan Builder noted that it would be difficult to run this as a classic derivatives market since validators could manipulate the outcome by producing empty blocks.
He stated that a delivered futures market for block space with a liquid secondary marketplace is still feasible. Such a structure could suffice to support public price discovery and hedging.
