According to @VitalikButerin on X on Dec 3, 2025, Ethereum introduced hard invariants in 2021 via EIP-2929 and EIP-3529, raising SLOAD gas costs and reducing gas refunds. According to @VitalikButerin, the 2024 Dencun upgrade nerfed SELFDESTRUCT to further harden the protocol. According to @VitalikButerin, Ethereum will enforce a 16,777,216 gas per transaction limit in 2025, establishing a clear ceiling for single-transaction computation. According to @VitalikButerin, these changes add hard invariants that improve protocol security and future adaptability. According to @VitalikButerin, these protocol rules directly bound how gas-intensive on-chain trades, arbitrage, and liquidations can be executed on Ethereum, making them operationally relevant for traders.