Ethereum blockspace protocol ETHGas has officially launched its native governance token, GWEI, with the ambitious goal of turning Ethereum's blockspace into a programmable and tradable market. The launch, announced on Tuesday, aims to move away from the current system of "blind gas auctions" that govern transaction inclusion on the network.
The ETHGas team argues that while Ethereum remains the strongest settlement layer in crypto, blockspace allocation has failed to keep pace with application demand, resulting in network latency and volatile gas costs. The protocol restructures blockspace so that decentralized applications (dApps) and protocols can secure predictable execution, which the team says will open the door to "gasless user experiences at scale."
GWEI is designed as the governance token for this new system. It grants holders oversight of how the protocol evolves, including parameter changes, upgrades, and treasury decisions. Voting power is directly tied to staking and lock-up commitments, creating a graduated system where longer-term commitments receive greater governance influence. The model incorporates quadratic voting elements for certain proposal types to prevent disproportionate control by large token holders.
The token launch follows significant momentum from last year, when ETHGas raised $12 million in a token round and unveiled an Ethereum blockspace futures market backed by roughly $800 million in liquidity commitments. The project is targeting institutional and application-level demand for predictable execution, particularly as Ethereum activity scales.
ETHGas's broader ambition is to build the first infrastructure layer for "Realtime Ethereum," where applications can move away from competing blindly in the public mempool and instead commit to execution in advance. The protocol focuses on blockspace—the capacity inside Ethereum blocks—treating it as an asset that can be priced, reserved, and traded separately from the chaotic dynamics of gas auctions.
This concept of making blockspace and execution more predictable has gained attention beyond ETHGas. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has previously pushed for trustless gas futures markets to help users hedge fee volatility, though his comments also sparked debate over potential new risks or centralization pressures.
An eligibility snapshot for the initial community distribution of GWEI tokens is scheduled for January 19, with further tokenomics details to be released later. The GWEI token functions as an ERC-20 standard asset on the Ethereum mainnet, with its governance functionality operating through a separate, audited smart contract system.
