Linea Hits 100 mGas/s Throughput in Major zkEVM Upgrade

Rongchai Wang Feb 20, 2026 15:37

Consensys-backed Linea L2 achieves 100+ mGas/s sequencer throughput with peaks of 218 mGas/s, positioning for institutional DeFi workloads.

Linea's sequencer now sustains over 100 million gas units per second (mGas/s), with peak performance hitting 218 mGas/s on ERC-721 transactions. The Consensys-backed zkEVM Layer-2 announced the milestone on February 20, 2026, calling it months of systematic optimization work.

For context, that peak figure puts Linea's raw sequencer capacity among the fastest in the L2 space. But what do these numbers actually mean for builders and traders?

Breaking Down the Benchmarks

Linea ran load tests across four transaction types: simple ETH transfers, ERC-20 transfers, ERC-721 mints, and token generation event (TGE) contracts. The testing used blocks capped at 200 mGas—more than triple Linea's current mainnet limit of 60 mGas.

In production configuration with 2-second block times, ERC-20 transfers achieved 192.8 mGas throughput at 306 transactions per second. Simple transfers hit 159 mGas at 456 TPS. The ERC-721 results look counterintuitive at first—lower TPS (231) but higher gas throughput (166.8 mGas)—because NFT mints burn roughly 120k gas each versus 35k for token transfers.

When Linea removed the 300-transaction-per-block cap to stress-test raw sequencer capacity, ERC-721 mints peaked at 218 mGas/s with 2-second blocks. The team notes their underlying Besu client actually benchmarks at 350 mGas/s without Linea-specific overhead like prover line counting.

Why Institutions Should Care

The timing matters here. Linea already increased its block size limit to 60 mGas in December 2025, and the team is targeting further increases throughout 2026. Higher sequencer throughput means the infrastructure can handle those bigger blocks without becoming the bottleneck.

For DeFi protocols, more transactions settling per block translates to tighter DEX spreads, faster liquidations, and the execution density needed for sophisticated strategies like high-frequency market making. Linea explicitly pitched this upgrade toward "institutional-grade finance."

The L2 has faced some ecosystem turbulence recently. ZeroLend, a major DeFi protocol on Linea, announced its shutdown on February 18, using a LINEA airdrop to compensate users affected by an exploit. Despite that setback, the LINEA token rallied 24% on February 12 after breaking key resistance levels.

Technical Architecture

Linea's approach separates the "hot path" from proving. Block production—transaction selection, assembly, and import—runs sequentially and determines real-time throughput. Proving happens asynchronously in the background, so prover efficiency affects finalization latency but doesn't bottleneck live performance.

The team is working on a "Limitless Prover" that eliminates the line counting step during transaction selection entirely. That should squeeze more performance from the sequencer without sacrificing proof accuracy.

What's Next

Linea plans significant gas limit increases on block size throughout 2026. With sequencer performance now validated at 100+ mGas/s, the team says the sequencer is "no longer the limiting factor for throughput."

The data suggests headroom exists for further optimization. Whether Linea can translate that technical capacity into ecosystem growth—especially after the ZeroLend incident—remains the open question for traders watching the L2 wars unfold.

• linea
• zkevm
• layer-2
• ethereum scaling
• defi infrastructure