What changed in ETH data capacity?

TLDR

Ethereum (ETH) raised its data capacity by increasing blob parameters. The blob limit moved from 15 to 21 and the blob target from 10 to 14 per block, expanding throughput for rollups on Jan 7 (UTC) BPO-2 hard fork.

1. One blob is 128 KB. Capacity now reaches about 2.69 MB per block, aiding cheaper L2 batches Cointelegraph summary.
2. Blobs are temporary data containers for rollup data availability, reducing mainnet congestion developer coverage.
3. Developers also discussed raising the gas limit (60M to 80M) next, with larger scaling slated later in 2026 %%CKPROTECTED0%%.

Deep Dive

1. What Changed

Ethereum executed its second Blob Parameter Only upgrade, raising blob capacity and the sustained target per block.

1. The blob limit rose to 21 and the blob target to 14 at 1:01:11 UTC on Jan 7, increasing batchable L2 data in each block upgrade report.
2. With each blob at 128 KB, Ethereum can now handle roughly 2.69 MB of blob data per block developer coverage.
3. This continues Ethereums parametric scaling approach: tuning capacity proactively rather than waiting for congestion news analysis.

2. Why It Matters

Blobs are designed to keep rollup data available for verification without crowding base-layer gas.

1. Blobs let rollups (Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, zkSync, Starknet) publish data efficiently, easing mainnet competition for block space developer coverage.
2. Since the first blob-focused fork in Dec 2025, fee volatility on mainnet has been more stable as L2s shift data off-chain into blob space summary.
3. Average blob usage remains below target, indicating headroom to absorb demand spikes without saturating capacity news analysis.

3. Whats Next

The capacity bump is part of a broader 2026 scaling track.

1. Developers discussed raising Ethereums gas limit from 60M to 80M to further increase throughput and lower costs during demand peaks developer notes.
2. A later 2026 hard fork (Glamsterdam) targets much larger throughput via block access lists and parallel processing developer notes.
3. The network is incrementally tuning parameters, with additional improvements aligned to L2 scaling and decentralized block-building discussions news analysis.

Conclusion

Ethereums data capacity grew by lifting blob limits and targets, enabling larger rollup batches per block and supporting lower, steadier fees. The near-term path is pragmatic scaling via parameter tuning, with more ambitious throughput gains (gas limit and parallel processing) later in 2026.