diff --git a/cmd/loadtest/loadtest.go b/cmd/loadtest/loadtest.go
index 96015bd8..0b680b20 100644
--- a/cmd/loadtest/loadtest.go
+++ b/cmd/loadtest/loadtest.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 	"os/signal"
 	"regexp"
 	"sort"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
@@ -226,33 +227,38 @@ type (
 	}
 	loadTestParams struct {
 		// inputs
-		Requests             *int64
-		Concurrency          *int64
-		BatchSize            *uint64
-		TimeLimit            *int64
-		Verbosity            *int64
-		PrettyLogs           *bool
-		ToRandom             *bool
-		URL                  *url.URL
-		ChainID              *uint64
-		PrivateKey           *string
-		ToAddress            *string
-		HexSendAmount        *string
-		RateLimit            *float64
-		Mode                 *string
-		Function             *uint64
-		Iterations           *uint64
-		ByteCount            *uint64
-		Seed                 *int64
-		IsAvail              *bool
-		AvailAppID           *uint32
-		LtAddress            *string
-		DelAddress           *string
-		ForceContractDeploy  *bool
-		ForceGasLimit        *uint64
-		ForceGasPrice        *uint64
-		ShouldProduceSummary *bool
-		SummaryOutputMode    *string
+		Requests                   *int64
+		Concurrency                *int64
+		BatchSize                  *uint64
+		TimeLimit                  *int64
+		Verbosity                  *int64
+		PrettyLogs                 *bool
+		ToRandom                   *bool
+		URL                        *url.URL
+		ChainID                    *uint64
+		PrivateKey                 *string
+		ToAddress                  *string
+		HexSendAmount              *string
+		RateLimit                  *float64
+		AdaptiveRateLimit          *bool
+		SteadyStateTxPoolSize      *uint64
+		AdaptiveRateLimitStart     *uint64
+		AdaptiveRateLimitIncrement *uint64
+		AdaptiveCycleDuration      *uint64
+		Mode                       *string
+		Function                   *uint64
+		Iterations                 *uint64
+		ByteCount                  *uint64
+		Seed                       *int64
+		IsAvail                    *bool
+		AvailAppID                 *uint32
+		LtAddress                  *string
+		DelAddress                 *string
+		ForceContractDeploy        *bool
+		ForceGasLimit              *uint64
+		ForceGasPrice              *uint64
+		ShouldProduceSummary       *bool
+		SummaryOutputMode          *string
 
 		// Computed
 		CurrentGas      *big.Int
@@ -285,6 +291,11 @@ func init() {
 	ltp.ToRandom = LoadtestCmd.PersistentFlags().Bool("to-random", true, "When doing a transfer test, should we send to random addresses rather than DEADBEEFx5")
 	ltp.HexSendAmount = LoadtestCmd.PersistentFlags().String("send-amount", "0x38D7EA4C68000", "The amount of wei that we'll send every transaction")
 	ltp.RateLimit = LoadtestCmd.PersistentFlags().Float64("rate-limit", 4, "An overall limit to the number of requests per second. Give a number less than zero to remove this limit all together")
+	ltp.AdaptiveRateLimit = LoadtestCmd.PersistentFlags().Bool("adaptive-rate-limit", true, "Loadtest automatically adjusts request rate to maximize utilization but prevent congestion")
+	ltp.SteadyStateTxPoolSize = LoadtestCmd.PersistentFlags().Uint64("steady-state-tx-pool-size", 1000, "Transaction Pool queue size which we use to either increase/decrease requests per second")
+	ltp.AdaptiveRateLimitStart = LoadtestCmd.PersistentFlags().Uint64("adaptive-rate-limit-start", 2, "Initial rate of requests per second following the slow-start approach of adaptive rate limiting")
+	ltp.AdaptiveRateLimitIncrement = LoadtestCmd.PersistentFlags().Uint64("adaptive-rate-limit-increment", 10, "Additive increment to rate of requests if txpool below steady state size")
+	ltp.AdaptiveCycleDuration = LoadtestCmd.PersistentFlags().Uint64("adaptive-cycle-duration-seconds", 20, "Duration in seconeds that adaptive load test will review txpool and determine whether to increase/decrease rate limit")
 	ltp.Mode = LoadtestCmd.PersistentFlags().StringP("mode", "m", "t", `The testing mode to use. It can be multiple like: "tcdf"
 t - sending transactions
 d - deploy contract
@@ -510,6 +521,62 @@ func printResults(lts []loadTestSample) {
 	log.Info().Uint64("numErrors", numErrors).Msg("Num errors")
 }
 
+func cleanHex(hexStr string) string {
+	// remove 0x prefix if found in the input string
+	return strings.TrimPrefix(hexStr, "0x")
+}
+
+func getTxPoolSize(rpc *ethrpc.Client) (uint64, error) {
+	var status map[string]interface{}
+	err := rpc.Call(&status, "txpool_status")
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	pendingHex, ok := status["pending"].(string)
+	if !ok {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("unable to read pending txpool size")
+	}
+	queuedHex, ok := status["queued"].(string)
+	if !ok {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("unable to read queued txpool size")
+	}
+
+	pendingTxPoolSize, err := strconv.ParseUint(cleanHex(pendingHex), 16, 64)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("unable to parse pending txpool size: %v", err)
+	}
+	queuedTxPoolSize, err := strconv.ParseUint(cleanHex(queuedHex), 16, 64)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("unable to parse queued txpool size: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	return (pendingTxPoolSize + queuedTxPoolSize), nil
+}
+
+func updateRateLimit(rl *rate.Limiter, rpc *ethrpc.Client, steadyStateQueueSize uint64, rateLimitIncrement uint64, cycleDuration time.Duration) {
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(cycleDuration)
+	defer ticker.Stop()
+
+	for range ticker.C {
+		txPoolSize, err := getTxPoolSize(rpc)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Error().Err(err).Msg("Error getting txpool size")
+			return
+		}
+
+		if txPoolSize < steadyStateQueueSize {
+			// additively increment requests per second if txpool less than queue steady state
+			newRateLimit := rate.Limit(float64(rl.Limit()) + float64(rateLimitIncrement))
+			rl.SetLimit(newRateLimit)
+			log.Trace().Float64("New Rate Limit (RPS)", float64(rl.Limit())).Uint64("Current Tx Pool Size", txPoolSize).Uint64("Steady State Tx Pool Size", steadyStateQueueSize).Msg("Increased rate limit")
+		} else if txPoolSize > steadyStateQueueSize {
+			// halve rate limit requests per second if txpool greater than queue steady state
+			rl.SetLimit(rl.Limit() / 2)
+			log.Trace().Float64("New Rate Limit (RPS)", float64(rl.Limit())).Uint64("Current Tx Pool Size", txPoolSize).Uint64("Steady State Tx Pool Size", steadyStateQueueSize).Msg("Backed off rate limit")
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func mainLoop(ctx context.Context, c *ethclient.Client, rpc *ethrpc.Client) error {
 
 	ltp := inputLoadTestParams
@@ -521,12 +588,25 @@ func mainLoop(ctx context.Context, c *ethclient.Client, rpc *ethrpc.Client) erro
 	chainID := new(big.Int).SetUint64(*ltp.ChainID)
 	privateKey := ltp.ECDSAPrivateKey
 	mode := *ltp.Mode
+	steadyStateTxPoolSize := *ltp.SteadyStateTxPoolSize
+	adaptiveRateLimitIncrement := *ltp.AdaptiveRateLimitIncrement
+	var rl *rate.Limiter
 
-	rl := rate.NewLimiter(rate.Limit(*ltp.RateLimit), 1)
-	if *ltp.RateLimit <= 0.0 {
+	if *ltp.AdaptiveRateLimit {
+		// start slow with adaptive rate limiting and we'll increase limit per feedback loop
+		rl = rate.NewLimiter(rate.Limit(*ltp.AdaptiveRateLimitStart), 1)
+	} else {
+		rl = rate.NewLimiter(rate.Limit(*ltp.RateLimit), 1)
+	}
+
+	if *ltp.RateLimit <= 0.0 || *ltp.AdaptiveRateLimitStart <= 0.0 {
 		rl = nil
 	}
 
+	if rl != nil && *ltp.AdaptiveRateLimit {
+		go updateRateLimit(rl, rpc, steadyStateTxPoolSize, adaptiveRateLimitIncrement, time.Duration(*ltp.AdaptiveCycleDuration)*time.Second)
+	}
+
 	tops, err := bind.NewKeyedTransactorWithChainID(privateKey, chainID)
 	tops = configureTransactOpts(tops)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -783,7 +863,7 @@ func mainLoop(ctx context.Context, c *ethclient.Client, rpc *ethrpc.Client) erro
 		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("there was an issue waiting for all transactions to be mined")
 	}
 
-	lightSummary(ctx, c, rpc, startBlockNumber, startNonce, finalBlockNumber, currentNonce)
+	lightSummary(ctx, c, rpc, startBlockNumber, startNonce, finalBlockNumber, currentNonce, rl)
 	if *ltp.ShouldProduceSummary {
 		err = summarizeTransactions(ctx, c, rpc, startBlockNumber, startNonce, finalBlockNumber, currentNonce)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -793,7 +873,7 @@ func mainLoop(ctx context.Context, c *ethclient.Client, rpc *ethrpc.Client) erro
 	return nil
 }
 
-func lightSummary(ctx context.Context, c *ethclient.Client, rpc *ethrpc.Client, startBlockNumber, startNonce, endBlockNumber, endNonce uint64) {
+func lightSummary(ctx context.Context, c *ethclient.Client, rpc *ethrpc.Client, startBlockNumber, startNonce, endBlockNumber, endNonce uint64, rl *rate.Limiter) {
 	startBlock, err := c.BlockByNumber(ctx, new(big.Int).SetUint64(startBlockNumber))
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("unable to get start block for light summary")
@@ -816,6 +896,7 @@ func lightSummary(ctx context.Context, c *ethclient.Client, rpc *ethrpc.Client,
 		Int("transactionCount", len(loadTestResults)).
 		Float64("testDuration", testDuration.Seconds()).
 		Float64("tps", tps).
+		Float64("final rate limit", float64(rl.Limit())).
 		Msg("rough test summary (ignores errors)")
 }