ETHGas: Real-Time Ethereum Blockspace and Gas Rebates

ETHGas is a marketplace for Ethereum blockspace commitments. Its founder and CEO, Kevin, spoke with Julian Stafford at TOKEN2049 Dubai. Kevin started as a traditional finance options trader in the years around the 2008 crisis, left finance to build an enterprise cloud company with his wife in Hong Kong, and returned to markets when DeFi showed that real financial products could run on cleaner rails. The ETHGas idea came from asking what happens if validators are given more choice and control, instead of being treated as passive infrastructure.

Ethereum builds a block every 12 seconds, and users must guess what tip will get them into the next one. ETHGas steps in front of that process. A validator delegates its block to ETHGas, which runs low latency infrastructure close to users. Users buy a slice of blockspace at a quoted price and get an instant confirmation. The intro to the episode cites 3 millisecond settlement. Kevin compared the old experience to paying for coffee and being told minutes later to tip more. Institutions connect directly by API, while retail reaches ETHGas through wallets that integrate it behind the scenes. He also described a marketplace where protocols and searchers can buy and sequence blockspace, with the aim of putting retail and sophisticated players on more equal footing.

The second product is a gas rebate program. A protocol pays ETHGas the gas its users spent in a month, and those users claim the gas back through ETHGas across EVM L1s and L2s. Kevin said it makes gas feel like a fixed, predictable cost and lets protocols hedge gas price risk. Batching is cheaper than sponsoring gas on the fly. It also builds a habit, because users return every month to claim. Joining is a couple of button clicks for a protocol after ETHGas authenticates it, while wallets need more negotiation.

The go-to-market starts with institutions because they are heavy users and can be reached by calling or messaging around 20 firms. Many validators and wallets are also investors. Kevin's north star metric is the percentage of Ethereum blocks that are real time, with a goal of 20%, 30% or 50% by year end, plus the number of protocols, L2s and partners on board. At the time of the interview ETHGas had been on testnet and had just gone live on mainnet for the exchange, with the Pectra upgrade making validators cautious. Rebates were due within months, and a token launch was planned toward year end, with a small share of tokens going to users through rebates. On defensibility, Kevin pointed to network effects and the fact that offchain systems will always be faster than any chain on its own.