Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed the creation of a trustless onchain futures market that would allow users to lock in gas fees for future transactions.
The idea, outlined in a detailed post on X, seeks to give developers, institutions and everyday users far more certainty around long-term gas expenses as the network continues to scale.
Buterin noted that many people have asked whether Ethereum’s roadmap can guarantee low transaction fees over time, prompting him to float a market-based solution that creates transparent, forward-looking pricing signals for gas.
How an Onchain Gas Futures Market Would Function
In his post, Buterin drew parallels to traditional futures markets in commodities such as oil.
He explained that futures contracts allow buyers and sellers to lock in pricing at a specific point in the future, freeing them from unpredictable market swings.
Applying that concept to Ethereum, a futures market would allow users to pre-purchase gas at a fixed price for a specific time interval.
This would enable traders, developers and large applications to plan ahead and shield themselves from sudden spikes in network activity.
According to Buterin, such a market would focus on Ethereum’s Base Fee — the core component that determines gas prices.
Users could effectively pre-pay for a defined amount of gas, providing certainty for operations that rely on predictable costs.
Benefits for High-Volume Users
Buterin argued that a functional prediction market for future gas fees would be especially beneficial for users who conduct heavy on-chain activity.
He said the market would offer a “clear signal of people’s expectations of future gas fees,” helping projects assess long-term operating expenses more accurately.
Applications dealing in high-frequency trading, NFT activity, smart-contract automation or institutional settlement could significantly reduce volatility risks under such a model.
The proposal would also support infrastructure builders planning resource allocation months or years in advance.
Gas Fees Have Declined in 2025 — But Remain Volatile
The discussion comes as Ethereum gas fees have fallen sharply throughout 2025.
Basic transactions are currently averaging around 0.474 gwei, or roughly one cent, according to network data.
More complex operations, such as token swaps, NFT trades and cross-chain bridging, remain slightly higher at between $0.05 and $0.27.
However, the broader trend has not been linear.
Average fees have moved between $0.18 and $2.60 throughout the year, reflecting significant bursts of network activity that can quickly change user costs.
This volatility has reinforced industry calls for more predictable tools, which Buterin’s futures proposal attempts to address.
A Step Toward More Efficient Long-Term Planning
If developed and implemented, an onchain gas futures market would represent a major evolution in how participants manage transaction costs on Ethereum.
It would also offer the ecosystem a new financial primitive built around transparency, hedging and price discovery.
The concept is still in its early stages, and Buterin did not outline a specific timeline for development.
However, the proposal has already sparked discussion among traders, analysts and DeFi builders who see long-term cost planning as essential for Ethereum’s next decade of growth.
