ETHGas, a trading platform for Ethereum blockspace, has successfully secured $12 million in a seed funding round spearheaded by Polychain Capital.
The funding announcement follows recent discussions by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on the potential of an onchain “gas futures” market, suggesting it could provide users with clearer expectations of fees and enable them to hedge future expenses.
ETHGas emphasizes the necessity for “a reimagining of how blockspace is allocated on the network” and asserts that its newly launched blockspace trading platform is a significant stride towards that goal. The company noted that the market began with $800 million in commitments from validators, builders, and other participants.
Related: Ethereum could get faster in January with gas limit rise to 80M
“Real-Time Ethereum”
Beyond making blockspace a tradable asset, ETHGas aims to significantly enhance Ethereum’s speed through an initiative termed “Real-Time Ethereum.” The company argues that purchasable blockspace commitments, known as “pre-confirmations,” permit participants to “secure execution at specified time points.”
ETHGas founder Kevin Lepsoe stated that this implementation is positioned upstream of current block production services, which are frequently utilized by maximum extractable value (MEV) bots. Lepsoe clarified that Real-Time Ethereum splits each block into “240 segments of 50ms each” to ensure sub-block guaranteed transaction times.
“The result is nearly zero MEV and an Ethereum that operates with effectively 50ms block times. […] We can achieve even faster speeds, but these thresholds are typically supported at 99.9%.”
However, Lepsoe acknowledged the presence of “some centralizing vectors” within the system. ETHGas could potentially increase Ethereum validator rewards by up to eight or ten times if all Ethereum transactions were converted to a real-time model, incentivizing centralization through automated market makers in exchange for blockspace.
He noted that this trend is already in motion, stating, “Blockbuilders + Relays like Titan and Ultrasound currently process around 50% of Ethereum blocks, indicating existing centralization concerns,” he remarked.
Lepsoe indicated that if ETHGas is successful, it will establish multiple nodes with a leader-election process to address risks from this centralization. However, he admitted that this approach would require extra efforts and community involvement.
Related: Fusaka goes live as Ethereum edges closer to ‘instant feel’ UX
New ways to send transactions
ETHGas asserts that its system can handle over 10,000 transactions per second, with users able to define block placement. Lepsoe mentioned that pre-confirmations can encompass entire blocks, enabling users to acquire a full block for their needs, whether for top-of-block reservations or guaranteed inclusion in a block. However, capacity remains limited until additional validators come on board.
The last type of pre-confirmations offers execution guarantees, ensuring not just inclusion but also “a specific price or position within the block.”
“For instance, I want to execute this bundle or series of trades and ensure the outcome is X,” Lepsoe illustrated as an example.
Execution guarantees have been trialed on the mainnet but are set for broader deployment in January or February 2026.
Lepsoe noted that validators assure the pre-confirmations and can provide collateral as Ether (ETH) or restaked Ether via EigenLayer. He explained that if an agreement is violated, validators may be penalized based on the quantity of acquired blockspace, with collateral being transferred to the buyer.
Lepsoe stated that to date, validators have honored 99.96% of pre-confirmations, though Cointelegraph could not independently verify this claim.
“You would need to trust that ETHGas can mediate and evaluate any slashing appropriately,” Lepsoe expressed. “As of now, this hasn’t posed an issue.”
Related: Ethereum tripling its gas limit is the ‘floor, we can go higher’ — Sassano
