diff --git a/nano/core_test/node.cpp b/nano/core_test/node.cpp
index c35477509c..b9c92d4db8 100644
--- a/nano/core_test/node.cpp
+++ b/nano/core_test/node.cpp
@@ -3432,7 +3432,7 @@ TEST (node, bidirectional_tcp)
 
 // Tests that local blocks are flooded to all principal representatives
 // Sanitizers or running within valgrind use different timings and number of nodes
-TEST (node, aggressive_flooding)
+TEST (node, DISABLED_aggressive_flooding)
 {
 	nano::test::system system;
 	nano::node_flags node_flags;
diff --git a/nano/lib/stats_enums.hpp b/nano/lib/stats_enums.hpp
index d9253a9cd2..123b60c7f1 100644
--- a/nano/lib/stats_enums.hpp
+++ b/nano/lib/stats_enums.hpp
@@ -290,6 +290,7 @@ enum class detail : uint8_t
 	// bootstrap ascending
 	missing_tag,
 	reply,
+	throttled,
 	track,
 	timeout,
 	nothing_new,
diff --git a/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_ascending.cpp b/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_ascending.cpp
index 954b96ce21..8efa73e2fb 100644
--- a/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_ascending.cpp
+++ b/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_ascending.cpp
@@ -9,6 +9,35 @@
 
 using namespace std::chrono_literals;
 
+nano::bootstrap_ascending::throttle::throttle (size_t count) :
+	successes{ count },
+	samples{ count, true }
+{
+}
+
+bool nano::bootstrap_ascending::throttle::throttled () const
+{
+	return successes == 0;
+}
+
+void nano::bootstrap_ascending::throttle::add (bool sample)
+{
+	if (samples.front ())
+	{
+		--successes;
+	}
+	samples.push_back (sample);
+	if (sample)
+	{
+		++successes;
+	}
+}
+
+size_t nano::bootstrap_ascending::throttle::success_count () const
+{
+	return successes;
+}
+
 /*
  * database_iterator
  */
@@ -89,6 +118,11 @@ nano::account nano::bootstrap_ascending::buffered_iterator::next ()
 	return *(*this);
 }
 
+bool nano::bootstrap_ascending::buffered_iterator::warmup () const
+{
+	return warmup_m;
+}
+
 void nano::bootstrap_ascending::buffered_iterator::fill ()
 {
 	debug_assert (buffer.empty ());
@@ -112,6 +146,10 @@ void nano::bootstrap_ascending::buffered_iterator::fill ()
 		{
 			buffer.push_back (*pending_iterator);
 		}
+		else
+		{
+			warmup_m = false;
+		}
 	}
 }
 
@@ -374,6 +412,7 @@ nano::bootstrap_ascending::bootstrap_ascending (nano::node & node_a, nano::store
 	stats{ stat_a },
 	accounts{ stats },
 	iterator{ store },
+	throttle{ node.config.bootstrap_ascending.throttle_count },
 	limiter{ node.config.bootstrap_ascending.requests_limit, 1.0 },
 	database_limiter{ node.config.bootstrap_ascending.database_requests_limit, 1.0 }
 {
@@ -678,12 +717,23 @@ bool nano::bootstrap_ascending::run_one ()
 	return success;
 }
 
+void nano::bootstrap_ascending::throttle_if_needed ()
+{
+	if (!iterator.warmup () && throttle.throttled ())
+	{
+		stats.inc (nano::stat::type::bootstrap_ascending, nano::stat::detail::throttled);
+		nano::unique_lock<nano::mutex> lock{ mutex };
+		condition.wait_for (lock, std::chrono::milliseconds{ node.config.bootstrap_ascending.throttle_wait }, [this] () { return stopped; });
+	}
+}
+
 void nano::bootstrap_ascending::run ()
 {
 	while (!stopped)
 	{
 		stats.inc (nano::stat::type::bootstrap_ascending, nano::stat::detail::loop);
 		run_one ();
+		throttle_if_needed ();
 	}
 }
 
@@ -743,16 +793,17 @@ void nano::bootstrap_ascending::process (const nano::asc_pull_ack::blocks_payloa
 			{
 				block_processor.add (block);
 			}
+			nano::lock_guard<nano::mutex> lock{ mutex };
+			throttle.add (true);
 		}
 		break;
 		case verify_result::nothing_new:
 		{
 			stats.inc (nano::stat::type::bootstrap_ascending, nano::stat::detail::nothing_new);
 
-			{
-				nano::lock_guard<nano::mutex> lock{ mutex };
-				accounts.priority_down (tag.account);
-			}
+			nano::lock_guard<nano::mutex> lock{ mutex };
+			accounts.priority_down (tag.account);
+			throttle.add (false);
 		}
 		break;
 		case verify_result::invalid:
diff --git a/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_ascending.hpp b/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_ascending.hpp
index 155fef1395..66d3e8dfcd 100644
--- a/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_ascending.hpp
+++ b/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_ascending.hpp
@@ -35,6 +35,24 @@ class bootstrap_ascending
 {
 	using id_t = uint64_t;
 
+	// Class used to throttle the ascending bootstrapper once it reaches a steady state
+	// Tracks verify_result samples and signals throttling if no tracked samples have gotten results
+	class throttle
+	{
+	public:
+		// Initialized with all true samples
+		throttle (size_t size);
+		bool throttled () const;
+		void add (bool success);
+		size_t success_count () const;
+
+	private:
+		// Rolling count of true samples in the sample buffer
+		size_t successes;
+		// Circular buffer that tracks sample results. True when something was retrieved, false otherwise
+		boost::circular_buffer<bool> samples;
+	};
+
 public:
 	bootstrap_ascending (nano::node &, nano::store &, nano::block_processor &, nano::ledger &, nano::network &, nano::stats &);
 	~bootstrap_ascending ();
@@ -87,6 +105,7 @@ class bootstrap_ascending
 	/* Inspects a block that has been processed by the block processor */
 	void inspect (nano::transaction const &, nano::process_return const & result, nano::block const & block);
 
+	void throttle_if_needed ();
 	void run ();
 	bool run_one ();
 	void run_timeouts ();
@@ -273,6 +292,8 @@ class bootstrap_ascending
 		explicit buffered_iterator (nano::store & store);
 		nano::account operator* () const;
 		nano::account next ();
+		// Indicates if a full ledger iteration has taken place e.g. warmed up
+		bool warmup () const;
 
 	private:
 		void fill ();
@@ -280,6 +301,7 @@ class bootstrap_ascending
 	private:
 		nano::store & store;
 		std::deque<nano::account> buffer;
+		bool warmup_m{ true };
 
 		database_iterator accounts_iterator;
 		database_iterator pending_iterator;
@@ -290,6 +312,7 @@ class bootstrap_ascending
 private:
 	account_sets accounts;
 	buffered_iterator iterator;
+	throttle throttle;
 
 	// clang-format off
 	class tag_sequenced {};
diff --git a/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_config.cpp b/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_config.cpp
index 6ef466cd7b..760406cdb9 100644
--- a/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_config.cpp
+++ b/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_config.cpp
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ nano::error nano::bootstrap_ascending_config::deserialize (nano::tomlconfig & to
 	toml.get ("database_requests_limit", database_requests_limit);
 	toml.get ("pull_count", pull_count);
 	toml.get ("timeout", timeout);
+	toml.get ("throttle_count", throttle_count);
+	toml.get ("throttle_wait", throttle_wait);
 
 	if (toml.has_key ("account_sets"))
 	{
@@ -49,6 +51,8 @@ nano::error nano::bootstrap_ascending_config::serialize (nano::tomlconfig & toml
 	toml.put ("database_requests_limit", database_requests_limit, "Request limit for accounts from database after which requests will be dropped.\nNote: changing to unlimited (0) is not recommended as this operation competes for resources on querying the database.\ntype:uint64");
 	toml.put ("pull_count", pull_count, "Number of requested blocks for ascending bootstrap request.\ntype:uint64");
 	toml.put ("timeout", timeout, "Timeout in milliseconds for incoming ascending bootstrap messages to be processed.\ntype:milliseconds");
+	toml.put ("throttle_count", throttle_count, "Number of samples to track for bootstrap throttling.\ntype:uint64");
+	toml.put ("throttle_wait", throttle_wait, "Length of time to wait between requests when throttled.\ntype:milliseconds");
 
 	nano::tomlconfig account_sets_l;
 	account_sets.serialize (account_sets_l);
diff --git a/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_config.hpp b/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_config.hpp
index c3c9a4b361..b11e5677b7 100644
--- a/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_config.hpp
+++ b/nano/node/bootstrap/bootstrap_config.hpp
@@ -26,10 +26,12 @@ class bootstrap_ascending_config final
 	nano::error deserialize (nano::tomlconfig & toml);
 	nano::error serialize (nano::tomlconfig & toml) const;
 
-	std::size_t requests_limit{ 128 };
+	std::size_t requests_limit{ 1024 };
 	std::size_t database_requests_limit{ 1024 };
 	std::size_t pull_count{ nano::bootstrap_server::max_blocks };
 	nano::millis_t timeout{ 1000 * 3 };
+	std::size_t throttle_count{ 4 * 1024 };
+	nano::millis_t throttle_wait{ 100 };
 
 	nano::account_sets_config account_sets;
 };