Ethereum Glamsterdam Upgrade Enters Final Testing as Developers Target H2 2026

TLDR

• Ethereum developers began final devnet testing for the Glamsterdam upgrade.
• Glamsterdam is expected to launch on mainnet in H2 2026.
• The upgrade includes ePBS, also known as EIP-7732.
• Block-Level Access Lists aim to make Ethereum block execution more efficient.
• Glamsterdam may raise Ethereum’s gas limit from 60M to 200M.

Ethereum developers have entered the final development phase for Glamsterdam, the network’s next major protocol upgrade, with private developer networks now testing the full set of planned Ethereum Improvement Proposals.

The upgrade is expected to be one of Ethereum’s largest protocol changes since the Merge, which moved the network to proof-of-stake in 2022. Developers have not set a final mainnet activation date, but Glamsterdam is currently expected in the second half of 2026, with market expectations pointing to a possible third-quarter rollout.

Parithosh Jayanthi, a core developer and DevOps engineer at the Ethereum Foundation, said developers are now running devnets that include all planned EIPs for the upgrade. He said the work is in its final phase before code hardening and public testnet deployment.

Glamsterdam Testing Moves to Full Devnets

Developer networks, or devnets, are closed testing environments used by Ethereum core teams to trial new protocol code before wider public testnets. Glamsterdam’s move into full devnet testing means the planned upgrade package is now being tested as a combined fork.

Jayanthi said there is no fixed timeline, but developers have made major progress. The current phase includes testing, finalizing specifications, assessing performance, and preparing the codebase before it moves to public testnet environments.

The upgrade includes several major changes aimed at improving Ethereum’s Layer 1 scalability and execution performance. Developers say Glamsterdam could change core assumptions about how Ethereum processes blocks, handles data access, and prices network resources.

The update also arrives as Ethereum network activity shows mixed signals. Whale activity on the Ethereum network reportedly fell 86.6%, dropping from 2,194 large transactions on June 5 to 294, showing lower large-holder activity during the latest market period.

ePBS and Access Lists Lead Upgrade Package

One of the main features in Glamsterdam is enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation, known as ePBS and tracked as EIP-7732. The proposal would move the separation between block builders and block proposers into Ethereum’s core protocol.

Today, much of this process relies on offchain systems, which can introduce trust assumptions and centralization concerns. By placing the mechanism onchain, developers aim to reduce risks linked to maximal extractable value, or MEV, and improve transparency around block production.

Another major change is Block-Level Access Lists, tracked as EIP-7928. This proposal would allow blocks to declare in advance which accounts and smart-contract data they plan to access.

That change could help Ethereum clients preload required data more efficiently, making block execution faster and more predictable. It may also improve optimization for validators, client teams, infrastructure providers, and applications that rely on stable execution performance.

Gas Repricing Could Change Ethereum Costs

Glamsterdam also includes broad gas repricing changes that could alter the cost structure of using Ethereum. Developers said high-level computation may become cheaper, while state-related activity may become more expensive.

The repricing effort is intended to make Ethereum fees better reflect the resources used by different operations. It is also designed to support future scaling work, including better compatibility with zero-knowledge proving systems.

The upgrade is expected to raise Ethereum’s gas limit from 60 million to 200 million, a change that would increase Layer 1 capacity if successfully implemented. Higher capacity, combined with cheaper compute and more accurate state pricing, could affect users, decentralized applications, and infrastructure operators.

Developers are also conducting outreach to the Ethereum community because fee repricing can affect smart contracts, wallets, applications, and user costs. Any change in gas economics requires careful review by builders and service providers before public testnet and mainnet deployment.

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