diff --git a/exchange/bitswap/bitswap.go b/exchange/bitswap/bitswap.go
index 5234aefc9..cbc9bcf4f 100644
--- a/exchange/bitswap/bitswap.go
+++ b/exchange/bitswap/bitswap.go
@@ -39,8 +39,9 @@ const (
 	// kMaxPriority is the max priority as defined by the bitswap protocol
 	kMaxPriority = math.MaxInt32
 
-	HasBlockBufferSize = 256
-	provideWorkers     = 4
+	HasBlockBufferSize    = 256
+	provideKeysBufferSize = 2048
+	provideWorkerMax      = 512
 )
 
 var rebroadcastDelay = delay.Fixed(time.Second * 10)
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ func New(parent context.Context, p peer.ID, network bsnet.BitSwapNetwork,
 		findKeys:      make(chan *blockRequest, sizeBatchRequestChan),
 		process:       px,
 		newBlocks:     make(chan *blocks.Block, HasBlockBufferSize),
-		provideKeys:   make(chan key.Key),
+		provideKeys:   make(chan key.Key, provideKeysBufferSize),
 		wm:            NewWantManager(ctx, network),
 	}
 	go bs.wm.Run()
diff --git a/exchange/bitswap/workers.go b/exchange/bitswap/workers.go
index edd05bfb3..e19cf2fbc 100644
--- a/exchange/bitswap/workers.go
+++ b/exchange/bitswap/workers.go
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 package bitswap
 
 import (
-	"os"
-	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
 	process "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/Godeps/_workspace/src/github.com/jbenet/goprocess"
+	ratelimit "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/Godeps/_workspace/src/github.com/jbenet/goprocess/ratelimit"
 	context "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/Godeps/_workspace/src/golang.org/x/net/context"
+	waitable "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/thirdparty/waitable"
 
 	key "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/blocks/key"
 	eventlog "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/thirdparty/eventlog"
@@ -14,22 +14,6 @@ import (
 
 var TaskWorkerCount = 8
 
-func init() {
-	twc := os.Getenv("IPFS_BITSWAP_TASK_WORKERS")
-	if twc != "" {
-		n, err := strconv.Atoi(twc)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Error(err)
-			return
-		}
-		if n > 0 {
-			TaskWorkerCount = n
-		} else {
-			log.Errorf("Invalid value of '%d' for IPFS_BITSWAP_TASK_WORKERS", n)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 func (bs *Bitswap) startWorkers(px process.Process, ctx context.Context) {
 	// Start up a worker to handle block requests this node is making
 	px.Go(func(px process.Process) {
@@ -57,12 +41,7 @@ func (bs *Bitswap) startWorkers(px process.Process, ctx context.Context) {
 	// Spawn up multiple workers to handle incoming blocks
 	// consider increasing number if providing blocks bottlenecks
 	// file transfers
-	for i := 0; i < provideWorkers; i++ {
-		i := i
-		px.Go(func(px process.Process) {
-			bs.provideWorker(ctx, i)
-		})
-	}
+	px.Go(bs.provideWorker)
 }
 
 func (bs *Bitswap) taskWorker(ctx context.Context, id int) {
@@ -77,7 +56,11 @@ func (bs *Bitswap) taskWorker(ctx context.Context, id int) {
 				if !ok {
 					continue
 				}
-				log.Event(ctx, "Bitswap.TaskWorker.Work", eventlog.LoggableMap{"ID": id, "Target": envelope.Peer.Pretty(), "Block": envelope.Block.Multihash.B58String()})
+				log.Event(ctx, "Bitswap.TaskWorker.Work", eventlog.LoggableMap{
+					"ID":     id,
+					"Target": envelope.Peer.Pretty(),
+					"Block":  envelope.Block.Multihash.B58String(),
+				})
 
 				bs.wm.SendBlock(ctx, envelope)
 			case <-ctx.Done():
@@ -89,27 +72,45 @@ func (bs *Bitswap) taskWorker(ctx context.Context, id int) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (bs *Bitswap) provideWorker(ctx context.Context, id int) {
-	idmap := eventlog.LoggableMap{"ID": id}
-	for {
-		log.Event(ctx, "Bitswap.ProvideWorker.Loop", idmap)
-		select {
-		case k, ok := <-bs.provideKeys:
-			log.Event(ctx, "Bitswap.ProvideWorker.Work", idmap, &k)
-			if !ok {
-				log.Debug("provideKeys channel closed")
-				return
-			}
-			ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, provideTimeout)
-			err := bs.network.Provide(ctx, k)
-			if err != nil {
+func (bs *Bitswap) provideWorker(px process.Process) {
+
+	limiter := ratelimit.NewRateLimiter(px, provideWorkerMax)
+
+	limitedGoProvide := func(k key.Key, wid int) {
+		ev := eventlog.LoggableMap{"ID": wid}
+		limiter.LimitedGo(func(px process.Process) {
+
+			ctx := waitable.Context(px) // derive ctx from px
+			defer log.EventBegin(ctx, "Bitswap.ProvideWorker.Work", ev, &k).Done()
+
+			ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, provideTimeout) // timeout ctx
+			defer cancel()
+
+			if err := bs.network.Provide(ctx, k); err != nil {
 				log.Error(err)
 			}
-			cancel()
-		case <-ctx.Done():
-			return
-		}
+		})
 	}
+
+	// worker spawner, reads from bs.provideKeys until it closes, spawning a
+	// _ratelimited_ number of workers to handle each key.
+	limiter.Go(func(px process.Process) {
+		for wid := 2; ; wid++ {
+			ev := eventlog.LoggableMap{"ID": 1}
+			log.Event(waitable.Context(px), "Bitswap.ProvideWorker.Loop", ev)
+
+			select {
+			case <-px.Closing():
+				return
+			case k, ok := <-bs.provideKeys:
+				if !ok {
+					log.Debug("provideKeys channel closed")
+					return
+				}
+				limitedGoProvide(k, wid)
+			}
+		}
+	})
 }
 
 func (bs *Bitswap) provideCollector(ctx context.Context) {